Talking About the Weather in Portuguese

It’s time to talk about the weather in European Portuguese! This is everyone’s favourite topic of conversation, right? Well, maybe not. But hey, it’s a good starting point, especially if you don’t know someone well, or you don’t have much else in common.

Portuguese Weather Vocabulary

The word for weather is the same as the word for time: o tempoweatherCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine Let’s take a look at more examples of basic Portuguese weather vocabulary:

• ☀️ o solsunCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine | solarengosunnyCommunity Slow audio Play audio Adjective, Singular, Masculine | soalheirosunnyCommunity Slow audio Play audio
• ☔️ a chuvarainCommunity Slow audio Play audio | chuvosorainyCommunity Slow audio Play audio Adjective, Singular, Masculine | choverto rainCommunity Slow audio Play audio Verb
• ☁️ a nuvemcloudCommunity | nubladocloudyCommunity Slow audio Play audio Adjective / Past Participle, Masculine
• 🍃 o ventowindCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine | ventosowindyCommunity Slow audio Play audio
• 🥵 o calorheat, warmthCommunity | quentehotCommunity Slow audio Play audio Adjective
• 🥶 friocoldCommunity Slow audio Play audio Adjective, Singular, Masculine
• 🙂 amenomild, pleasant, temperateCommunity | agradávelpleasantCommunity
• ❄️ a nevesnowCommunity | nevarto snowCommunity Slow audio Play audio Verb

Important Tips About Nouns vs. Adjectives

With some weather words, it’s very common in Portuguese to construct the sentence to use the noun instead of the adjective, i.e., saying there is sun, rather than saying it’s sunny. For example:

• Está solIt's sunnyCommunity Slow audio Play audio – “There’s sun”, as opposed to Está um dia solarengo (It’s a sunny day)
• Está muito ventoIt's very windyCommunity Slow audio Play audio – “There’s a lot of wind”, as opposed to Está muito ventoso (It’s very windy)
• Estou com calorI'm hotCommunity Slow audio Play audio   – “I’m with heat”
• É um dia de neveIt's a snowy dayCommunity Slow audio Play audio – “It’s a day of snow”

When you do use adjectives, as always, it has to match the noun it describes in gender and number. For example:

• O inverno é frioThe winter is coldCommunity Slow audio Play audio
• A nossa casa é fria no inverno.Our house is cold in the winterCommunity Slow audio Play audio

Seasons in Portugal

Here’s a quick breakdown of weather in Portugal during each a estaçãoseasonCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine :

• a primaveraspringCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine — generally mild weather
• o verãosummerCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine — warm/hot, especially in the south
• o outonoautumnCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine — cooler and rainier
• o invernowinterCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine — cold, sometimes snowy in the north

We cover days, months, and seasons in these other Units: What Day Is It? | Periods of Time

Using Different Verbs to Talk About the Weather

As you’re talking about seasons and weather in Portuguese, you may be wondering which verb to use in different contexts. It’s that ongoing battle of ser vs. estar! Just as we’ve learned in the past, ser tends to be used for more permanent characteristics, like what the weather is generally like. Estar, on the other hand, works better for current / temporary weather conditions. But, as always, there is a bit of overlap in how these verbs are used.
O clima é perfeito aquiThe weather (climate) is perfect hereCommunity Slow audio Play audio
O tempo está perfeito hojeThe weather is perfect todayCommunity Slow audio Play audio
No inverno, as noites são friasIn the winter, the nights are coldCommunity Slow audio Play audio
Está frio esta noiteIt is cold tonightCommunity Slow audio Play audio
You will also hear the verb fazerto do, to makeCommunity Slow audio Play audio Verb quite often when discussing the temperature or certain weather conditions:
Em Lisboa faz muito ventoIt’s very windy in LisbonCommunity Slow audio Play audio
Aqui faz calorIt's hot here, It gets hot hereCommunity Slow audio Play audio
No inverno, faz muito frio no norteIn the winter, it's very cold in the northCommunity Slow audio Play audio

More Portuguese Weather Lingo

Tuning into a Portuguese weather forecast, or just chatting with neighbours about the weather? Here are more Portuguese weather terms and phrases to help you out:
a previsãoforecastCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine
esperadoexpectedCommunity Slow audio Play audio Adjective, Singular, Masculine
previstoexpected, predictedCommunity
as máximasthe highs (temperature)Community Slow audio Play audio
os mínimosthe lows (temperature)Community Slow audio Play audio
aviso meterológicoweather warningCommunity Slow audio Play audio
céu limpoclear skyCommunity Slow audio Play audio
céu nubladoovercast skyCommunity Slow audio Play audio
os aguaceirosrain showersCommunity Slow audio Play audio
precipitaçãoprecipitationCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine
a brisabreezeCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine
o nevoeirofogCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine
húmidohumidCommunity
a tempestadestormCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine
a trovoadathunderstormCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine
o relâmpagolightningCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine
o granizohailCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine
o furacãohurricaneCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine
o ciclonecyclone, hurricaneCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine
inundadaflooded (sing.,fem.)Community
os incêndios florestaisforest fires, wildfiresCommunity Slow audio Play audio
o arco-írisrainbowCommunity

Some Extra Work for Americans 🇺🇸

If you’re from the U.S. (or anywhere that uses Fahrenheit), you should get used to using Celsius to talk about 🌡️ a temperaturathe temperatureCommunity .
A temperatura caiu abaixo dos zero graus CelsiusThe temperature dropped below 0ºCCommunity Slow audio Play audio
There are plenty of apps and websites that will convert the temperature for you, but it may help to start “thinking in Celsius” by switching your weather apps/displays. Here’s a very rough guide to get you started (these are just approximations):

Most people consider somewhere around 20-25ºC to be a pleasant temperature: not too cold and not too hot.