In Il Meteo – part 1 we had a look a typical example of le previsioni del tempo – the weather report. When we talk about the weather in everyday conversation, however, we don’t normally use such fancy meteorological terminology and explanations. Let’s have a look at some common ways of discussing the weather.

1. the present: Che tempo fa?, or com’è il tempo? – what’s the weather like?

fa bel tempo, or è bello – it’s nice (weather)

c’è il sole – it’s sunny

il sole picchia – the sun is scorching

fa caldo – it’s hot, or fa un caldo da morire – it’s sweltering/baking hot

ci sono trenta gradi – it’s thirty degrees (Celsius)

è afoso – it’s stuffy, or c’è un’afa da morire – it’s unbearably stuffy

fa brutto tempo, or è brutto – the weather is bad, or ‘it’s horrible’

è umido – it’s damp

sta piovigginando – it’s drizzling

piove, or sta piovendo – it’s raining

piove a dirotto, or piove a catinelle – it’s pouring down/raining cats and dogs

nevica, or sta nevicando – it’s snowing

fa freddo – it’s cold, or fa un freddo boia – literally: it’s as cold as an executioner

il tempo sta migliorando – the weather is getting better/improving

il tempo sta peggiorando – the weather is getting worse/deteriorating

il tempo sta cambiando – the weather is changing

si sta schiarendo – it’s clearing up

si sta rasserenando – literally: it’s becoming more serene

è nuvoloso – it’s cloudy, or è coperto – it’s overcast

c’è nebbia – it’s foggy, or c’è foschia – it’s misty

c’è vento, or è ventoso – it’s windy

c’è un temporale – it’s thundery, or there’s a thunderstorm

2. the past: che tempo faceva?, or com’era il tempo (e.g.ieri)? – what was the weather like (e.g. yesterday)? N.B. è becomes era (it was), or c’èra (there was), and fa becomes faceva (‘it was’ – see my recent blog: Il verbo fare)

faceva bel tempo, or era bello – it was nice

c’èra il sole – it was sunny

faceva caldo, or era caldo – it was hot

c’erano trenta gradi – it was thirty degrees

pioveva, è piovuto, or ha piovuto all mean it was rainy/raining (you choose!)

il tempo è migliorato (e.g. nel pomeriggio) – the weather got better/improved (e.g. in the afternoon)

si è schiarito (e.g. verso sera) – it cleared up (e.g. towards evening)

3. the future: che tempo farà?, or come sarà il tempo (e.g. domani)? – what will the weather be like (e.g. tomorrow)? N.B. c’è becomes ci sarà (there will be), and fa becomes farà (‘it will be’ – see my recent blog: Il verbo fare)

hanno previsto bel tempo/brutto, ecc., or dicono che sarà bello, brutto, ecc. – they’ve predicted good/bad, etc. weather, or they say it will be nice, horrible, etc.

ci sarà il sole – it will be sunny

farà caldo – it will be hot

ci saranno trenta gradi – it will be thirty degrees

pioverà – it will be rainy

il tempo migliorerà – it will get better/improve

si schiarirà – it will clear up

N.B. instead of the more correct ‘hanno previsto’ – they have predicted – you will also hear the very colloquial ‘hanno messo’ – literally: ‘they have put’, e.g. ‘hanno messo acqua’ – ‘they have put water’, meaning ‘they have predicted rain’