Weather Vocabulary Pronunciation Guide: 20 Essential Words

Weather is one of the most common conversation topics in English. Whether you are checking the forecast, describing a storm, or talking about the temperature, you need to pronounce these words correctly to be understood.

Many weather words have tricky pronunciations. Words like temperature, humidity, and precipitation can trip up learners because of silent letters, unusual stress patterns, and consonant clusters.

This guide covers 20 essential weather vocabulary words with their correct American English pronunciation, IPA transcriptions, and practice tips.

Basic Weather Terms

Let's start with the everyday weather words you will use most often. Pay close attention to the stress patterns and vowel sounds.

Pronunciation Tips for Basic Weather Terms

• Temperature has only 3 syllables in natural speech: TEM-per-cher. Many learners say "tem-per-a-ture" with 4 syllables, but Americans typically reduce it.
• Forecast has stress on the first syllable: FORE-cast. The "o" sounds like the vowel in "or."
• Humidity starts with the /hj/ cluster. Make sure you pronounce both the "h" and the "y" sound: hyoo-MID-uh-tee.
• Dew sounds exactly like "do" (/duː/). It does not rhyme with "few" for most American speakers.

Severe Weather Vocabulary

These words describe dangerous or extreme weather conditions. Many of them contain sounds that are challenging for non-native speakers.

Pronunciation Tips for Severe Weather Words

• Thunderstorm begins with the /θ/ sound (the "th" in "think"). Place your tongue between your teeth and blow air. Do not say "tunderstorm."
• Lightning has only 2 syllables: LIGHT-ning. There is no "e" sound in the middle. Do not say "light-en-ing."
• Drought rhymes with "out" and "about." The "ough" makes a /aʊ/ sound. This is a common spelling trap.
• Hurricane has stress on the first syllable: HUR-ih-cane. The first vowel is the /ɜːr/ sound, like in "her."

Temperature and Measurement Terms

When discussing weather, you often need to talk about temperature scales and types of precipitation.

Pronunciation Tips for Temperature Terms

• Precipitation is a long word with 5 syllables: prih-SIP-ih-TAY-shun. The main stress is on the fourth syllable "-ta-." Practice breaking it into chunks: pre-cipi-tation.
• Celsius is pronounced SEL-see-us, not "kel-see-us" or "sel-shus." The "c" is soft, like an "s."
• Fahrenheit has 3 syllables: FAIR-en-hite. The stress falls on the first syllable. The "heit" part rhymes with "height."
• Frost has the /frɔːst/ sound. Make sure the "r" is clear and the vowel is the open-o sound, similar to the vowel in "force."

Practice Tips

1. Group Words by Sound Patterns

Several weather words share similar sounds. Practice them together:

• /iː/ sound: breeze, sleet, dew (sounds like "do")
• /ɔːr/ sound: forecast, thunderstorm, tornado
• /æ/ sound: forecast (second syllable), Fahrenheit

2. Focus on Stress Patterns

English words have specific stress patterns. Getting the stress wrong can make a word unrecognizable:

• First syllable stress: TEMperature, FOREcast, LIGHTning, BLIZzard, HURricane, CELsius, FAHrenheit, DRIZzle
• Second syllable stress: huMIDity, torNAdo
• Fourth syllable stress: precipiTAtion

3. Watch Out for Silent or Reduced Letters

• Temperature: The second "e" is often silent in natural speech
• Lightning: No "e" between the "t" and "n" (it is not "lightening")
• Drought: The "ough" is just /aʊ/, not "ow-g-ht"

4. Practice with Weather Reports

One of the best ways to improve your weather vocabulary pronunciation is to listen to American weather forecasts. Pay attention to how meteorologists pronounce these words and try to repeat after them.

You can also practice by describing the weather outside your window every day. Use at least 3 weather words in complete sentences.

Quick Reference Table

Now that you know how to pronounce these 20 weather words, try using them in your daily conversations. The more you practice, the more natural they will sound. For more pronunciation practice, check out our interactive pronunciation exercises.