Does it happen to you, that, writing a story, you have a scene in your head and try to describe what you’re currently seeing, you realize, the location, despite the nighttime and the darkness, is occasionally ‘enlightened’ by nature? Lighting bolds give your protagonist a quick, clear view of ‘the body’ in the alley. Thunderstorms often come with heavy rains, maybe it just started raining… So, what’s next? How do you describe the weather in your book, in your story, or in that particular scene?
I did quite some research about it and found, that some expert writers have blogged about it before. I therefore will lead you to their hard work:
The ‘Writers Write’ blog offers a post 101 Words To Describe Weather, written by Amanda Patterson
Worddreams shows an article, 160+ Ways To Describe Weather, written by Jacqui Murray
“Just Publishing Advice” offers a post “Describe The Weather In Writing With Much Better Vocabulary“, written by Derek Haines
I have my favorite, which I will permit myself to copy here: Bryn Donovan’s “Master List for Describing Weather”
HOT WEATHER
blazing sunshine
fiery sun
fierce sun
glaring sun
baking in the sun
sun-drenched
scorching heat
extravagant heat
relentless sun
muggy air
dank air
like a sauna
steamy
sticky
dense tropical heat
sultry
dusty heat
arid heat
radiating heat
blistering heat
oppressive heat
insufferable heat
suffocating heat
heat pressing down
searing sun
shimmering heat
like an oven
like a furnace
WARM / PLEASANT WEATHER
(“Pleasant” is a matter of opinion, of course.)
a beautiful day
a fine day
a clear day
a mild day
a temperate day
a golden day
a glorious day
heavenly weather
bright and sunny
a gorgeous spring day
a dazzling summer day
a brilliant autumn day
a vivid blue sky
a cloudless sky
fluffy white clouds
gentle sunshine
lazy sunshine
kind sunshine
filtered sunlight
dappled sunlight
welcome warmth
one of those rare, perfect days
the kind of day that made people forget to worry
the kind of day that lifted people’s moods
COOL WEATHER
crisp air
refreshing air
stimulating cool air
invigorating cool air
bracing cool air
a nip in the air
a brisk day
a chilly day
weak sunshine
clammy air
damp air
GRAY / OVERCAST WEATHER
(Most people don’t like gray days, so most of these descriptions are negative. I love them, so I had to add a few positive descriptions.)
bleak day
gloomy sky
dreary day
colorless sky
a soft gray sky
a dove-gray sky
a gray day made for books and tea
steel-gray sky
stony sky
granite sky
cement-gray sky
threatening clouds
foreboding clouds
COLD WEATHER
frosty air
icy air
Arctic air
glacial air
bitter cold
brutal cold
cruel cold
bone-chilling cold
penetrating cold
devastating cold
numbing cold
punishing cold
dangerous cold
unforgiving cold
too cold to talk
so cold it burned one’s lungs
so cold it took one’s breath away
WIND
like a blast from a hair dryer
icy blast
a gust of wind
wild wind
raw wind
stiff wind
insistent winds
heavy winds
strong winds
cutting wind
whipping winds
biting wind
harsh wind
angry wind
wintry squall
violent gale
howling wind
shifting winds
restless wind
blustery
fresh breeze
soft breeze
balmy breeze
perfumed breeze
slight breeze
hint of a breeze
stirring breeze
wind rustling through the trees
RAIN
fine drizzle
gray drizzle
pebbles of falling rain
spitting rain
stinging rain
steady rain
rain falling in torrents
cascades of rain
deluge
downpour
rain beating down
shower of rain
sheets of rain
hard-driving rain
pelting rain
lashing rain
slashing rain
THUNDER AND LIGHTNING
rumbling in the distance
a roll of distant thunder
crash of thunder
crackle of thunder
crack of thunder
clap of thunder
bang of thunder
booming thunder
rattled with thunder
earth-shaking thunder
tempestuous
a furious storm
flash of lightning
streaks of lightning
SNOW AND ICE
flurries of snow
dancing flakes
snowflakes floating down
snowflakes wafting down
swirling snow
falling thick and fast
big flakes falling like petals
blinding snowstorm
raging blizzard
sparkling expanses
blankets of white
caked with snow
boulders of snow
branches coated in ice
glittering ice
crystallized by frost
silvered with frost
FOG
clouds of mist
dense fog
swirling mist
billowing fog
cloaked in mist
cocooned in fog
shrouded in fog
enveloped by fog
smothered by fog
made mysterious by fog
the fog rolled in
the fog was burning off
the fog was lifting
the fog was clearing
the fog was dissipating
(Source: https://www.bryndonovan.com/2019/04/08/master-list-for-describing-weather/)
Bryn Donovan did a phenomenal job with this list which will be of enormous help for many of us. (I do hope, she’ll forgive me for showing the entire list here.) Thank you, Bryn!
I realized, in my books, the weather does play a particular role, when I want to describe scenes. Sadness or happiness, enthusiasm or indifference can ‘dictate’ how I describe what is happening, and fog, wind, sunshine, or thunderstorms can very much help to accentuate the vibe of the scene.
Do you ‘play’ with the weather in your stories? Does it help you to describe a scene or happening in a better way, or is it easier to ‘feel the vibe’ of something thrilling coming up when the weather plays an additional role? Let us know in the comments.
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