It has been a cold winter so far this year in the United States with many winter storms, and it seems like the storms just keep coming!  This makes it the perfect time to review some winter weather vocabulary. Today we are going to focus just on verbs that are used in the winter to describe the weather, what we do with snow, and how we react to the cold. Take a look at these verbs, defined below, and then try using them in the practice exercise at the bottom the post.

How to talk about the weather:
to blow in – to arrive; usually refers to weather coming in with the wind
to clear – when the bad weather and clouds goes away and the sky is clear again
to freeze – when water turns to ice because of a decrease in temperature
to ice over – to become completely covered with ice (i.e. the road iced over)
to thaw – when ice turns to water due to an increase in temperature

What we do with snow:
to dig out – to move a lot of snow with a shovel; this verb implies that there is a lot of snow or that snow covers an object
to plow – to move snow with a large machine with a shovel in front
to scrape – to push or pull a hard object across ice to remove the ice
to shovel – to move snow with a tool, with a long handle and scoop at the end to pick up the snow

How to stay warm:
to bundle up – to dress warmly, often with multiple layers of clothing, in order to stay warm in the cold

What happens if you don’t bundle up and you get sick:
to blow (one’s) nose – to clear your nose of mucus, using a handkerchief or tissue
to cough – to let air out of your lungs with force, often because of sickness
to shiver – to have the body shake because of extreme cold
to sneeze – to let air out of your nose (and mouth) suddenly, often because of sickness or allergies

Try to figure out which verbs above go in the blanks below. Don’t forget to conjugate the verbs correctly. The answers are below.

1.    First I had to ____________ my car from the snow, then I had to ______________ the ice off the windshield so I could drive to work.
2.     I told the children to ________________ before going outside. They would go outside without their hats and gloves if someone didn’t remind them.
3.    The weatherman said it will be 0 degrees tonight, so it is definitely going to ______________ and all the water will turn to ice.
4.    When the sun comes out the snow will ___________ and turn to slush and water.
5.    I have a bad cold. I have been ___________ and _____________ all day. I think I will go home and go to bed.

Answers:
1.    dig; scrape
2.    bundle up
3.    freeze
4.    thaw
5.    coughing and sneezing