Weather describes what the air is doing now, while climate describes long-term average patterns.

The longer version

Weather is the state of the atmosphere at a particular time and place: the temperature, wind, cloud, and precipitation of the moment. It changes from hour to hour, and it is what a forecast tries to predict over a few days.

Climate is the statistical picture built from those individual moments, usually averaged over several decades. It describes what conditions a place typically experiences, including the range of variation and how often extremes occur. A single hot day says little about climate, but many such days recorded over decades do, because averages smooth out the day-to-day noise.

Where this entry sits

Clouds, wind, rain, and storms shape daily life in ways that most people barely notice. This collection explains snow, lightning, rainbows, the turning seasons, temperature, the instruments forecasters rely on, and scraps of old weather lore. The full list sits on the Weather and Climate page, where every entry is listed in order.