Weather vs. Climate

Learning Objectives

Define weather and climate.

Explain the key difference between weather and climate, which is the timescale.

Identify the main factors that determine the climate of a region.

Provide examples that illustrate the difference between a weather event and a climate pattern.

What's the Difference?

You've probably heard people say 'The weather is so crazy today!' or 'I'm moving to a warmer climate.' People often use the words weather and climate interchangeably, but in science, they mean two very different things. The key difference between them is time.

Weather: What's Happening Now

Weather describes the condition of the atmosphere at a specific place and a specific time. It's what's happening right now or over a very short period—today, this week, or even this month.

Weather includes factors like:

Temperature

Precipitation (rain, snow, sleet, hail)

Wind speed and direction

Humidity (the amount of water vapor in the air)

Cloud cover

Air pressure

Weather is constantly changing. It can be sunny in the morning and stormy in the afternoon. A weather forecast tells you what these conditions are expected to be in the near future.

A good way to remember it: Weather is what you decide to wear on a particular day.

Climate: The Long-Term Average

Climate is the average weather in a place over a very long period of time, typically 30 years or more. It's the overall pattern of weather that a region usually experiences. Climate tells you what the weather is like in a certain place, not what it will be on a specific day.

For example, the climate of Antarctica is cold and dry. This doesn't mean it can't have an unusually warm day (a weather event), but the long-term average is very cold. The climate of the Amazon rainforest is hot and wet.

A good way to remember it: Climate is what clothes you should have in your closet for all the seasons in a region.

What Determines Climate?

Several factors work together to determine a region's climate:

Latitude: How far a place is from the equator. Places near the equator receive more direct sunlight and are generally warmer than places near the poles.

Altitude (Elevation): How high a place is above sea level. Higher altitudes are generally colder.

Proximity to large bodies of water: Oceans and large lakes moderate temperatures, usually making coastal climates milder with cooler summers and warmer winters than inland areas.

Ocean Currents: Currents can bring warm water to cooler regions or cool water to warmer regions, affecting the climate.

Topography (Landforms): Mountain ranges can block the movement of clouds and air masses, causing one side of a mountain (the windward side) to be very wet and the other side (the leeward side) to be a dry 'rain shadow' desert.

Key Terms

**Weather: The short-term state of the atmosphere at a specific time and place, including temperature, precipitation, wind, and humidity.
**Climate: The average weather conditions in an area over a long period of time, typically 30 years or more.
**Atmosphere: The layer of gases surrounding the Earth.
**Latitude: The distance of a place north or south of the Earth's equator.
**Altitude: The height of an object or point in relation to sea level or ground level.