Weather and Climate Word Search

About this puzzle

Weather is what happens today; climate is the pattern over many years. This list covers both: everyday conditions (drizzle, humidity, frost), dramatic storms (thunder, lightning, tornado, hurricane, blizzard), seasonal patterns (monsoon, drought), clouds (cumulus) and the tools and words of forecasting (barometer, forecast). RAINBOW is the one bit of weather everyone hopes to see.

The default layout is Medium on a 13×13 grid. Easy, Medium and Hard each use their own checked layout of the same words, and every one can be printed in standard or large print on US Letter or A4.

Word notes

Lightning

A giant electric spark in a storm; its heat makes the air expand suddenly, which we hear as thunder.

Tornado

A violently rotating column of air reaching from a thunderstorm down to the ground.

Hurricane

A large tropical storm with winds of at least 119 km/h (74 mph); called a typhoon or cyclone in other regions.

Humidity

The amount of water vapor in the air; high humidity makes hot days feel hotter.

Barometer

Measures air pressure; falling pressure often signals a storm.

Rainbow

Appears when sunlight is split into colors by raindrops; you see one with the Sun behind you.

Cumulus

Puffy, cotton-like clouds.

Monsoon

A seasonal shift in winds that brings heavy rain to parts of Asia and elsewhere.

Try this after the puzzle

Keep a weather log for a week using words from the list: each day, note the conditions and make one forecast for tomorrow. During a storm, count the seconds between lightning and thunder — about three seconds for every kilometer of distance, or five for every mile.

All 14 words

Thunder · Lightning · Tornado · Hurricane · Humidity · Drizzle · Blizzard · Barometer · Forecast · Rainbow · Cumulus · Monsoon · Drought · Frost