Difference Between Weather and Climate
Weather describes short-term atmospheric conditions - what is happening outside right now or in the next few days. Climate describes long-term average patterns of temperature, precipitation, and other conditions in a region over 30+ years. Weather changes daily; climate changes over decades.
Key Takeaways
- Weather is the state of the atmosphere at a specific place and time.
- Extreme weather events can be influenced by climate change without being directly caused by it.
- Microclimates exist where local conditions differ significantly from the broader regional climate.
Explanation
Weather is the state of the atmosphere at a specific place and time. It includes temperature, humidity, precipitation, wind, and cloud cover. Weather can change hour to hour and is what meteorologists forecast for the coming days. A single hot day is weather.
Climate is the statistical average of weather over long periods, typically 30 years or more. It describes what conditions are typically like in a region and when. Climate tells us that Arizona is usually hot and dry, while Seattle is usually mild and rainy. A trend of increasingly hot summers is climate.
A helpful analogy: weather is your mood today, climate is your personality. One cold winter does not disprove climate change, just as one bad day does not change someone's overall temperament. Both concepts are scientifically distinct and important.
Things to Know
- Extreme weather events can be influenced by climate change without being directly caused by it.
- Microclimates exist where local conditions differ significantly from the broader regional climate.
- Climate scientists use different tools and timescales than weather forecasters.