It is beginning to look a lot like winter in much of North America (and much of the northern hemisphere in general), particularly in the more northern areas of the continent.  So, now is the perfect time to go over some winter weather vocabulary.  Below are the definitions of some important winter weather vocabulary.

blizzard – a big strong winter storm with lots of snow and wind
Example: When I looked outside during the blizzard all I saw was white.

flurries – very light pieces of snow or snowfall
Example: Flurries began to fall for a number of hours before the storm really started.

“freezing cold” – an expression used to describe a very cold day
Example: It is freezing cold out there, be sure to put on your winter coat.

frost – a thin layer of ice crystals that form on a frozen surface like grass or a car
Example: I know winter is coming when I begin to see frost in the yard in the morning.

hail – small pieces of ice that fall from the sky; hail can be very small in size, similar to a gain of sand or sometimes quite large, as big as a golf ball, and any size in between
Example: The hail was so big it made dents in people’s cars and cracked windshields.

icicle – a hanging piece of ice formed by the freezing of dripping water
Example: There are probably a hundred icicles hanging from Jay’s roof.

sleet – a mixture of rain and frozen water (not quite snow or hail) that falls from the sky
Example:  Sleet is my least favorite kind of weather because it is both cold and wet.

slush – snow that has fallen to the ground and melted or mixed with rained to become a mixture of ice and water
Example: Donna was happy she put her boots to walk to work because the sidewalk was covered in slush.

Snow related vocabulary:
snow – light frozen water that looks white as it falls and accumulates on the ground
snowball – a ball of packed snow that is often made to throw at a person for fun
snowflake – a feathery, delicate, patterned ice crystal
snowman – a representation of a person made out of snow, usually with three large balls of snow stacked on top of one another
snow plow – a large shovel attached to the front of a vehicle, usually a truck that is used to push snow
snow shovel – a special tool for lifting, moving, and removing snow