Understanding the Weather Forecast for Kids

Here is a printable kid-friendly weather glossary that will make it easier to understand the weather report for kids.

The 3 page pdf of weather terms for kids is free to download and print.

I check the weather forecast on the internet daily. When trying to share the weather report with my daughter, I realized that there is a lot of terminology a Meteorologist uses, that my elementary aged child does not fully understand. So I created this printable glossary to help.

Weather Glossary For Kids

This weather glossary for kids has common weather terms with easy to understand explanations in kid friendly language. It helps kids to better understand the weather report.

Precipitation

The first page of the kid-friendly weather glossary largely explains vocabulary words related to precipitation.

Weather vocabulary terms that are explained are:

• meteorologist
• forecasting
• precipitation
• mixed precipitation
• sleet
• hail

It’s also a little bit of a weather worksheet as kids have to draw lines to match 4 of the weather terms to their definitions.

Rain & Snow

The next page of the weather glossary for kids explains the definitions between different terms the Meteorologist uses to describe different types of rain or snow.

The kid-friendly weather report glossary defines:

• rain (light, moderate, and heavy)
• showers
• drizzle
• freezing rain
• thunderstorm
• flurries
• snow showers
• snow squalls
• blizzard
• scattered showers
• isolated thunderstorms

Sunny or Cloudy

The last page explains how the Weatherman uses a measurement called an okta to measure the amount of clouds in the sky. The amount of okta’s will determine the vocabulary the Meteorologist will use in his forecast.

Kids will understand exactly what the Weatherman means if he says it is:

• sunny
• mostly sunny
• partly sunny
• partly cloudy
• mostly cloudy
• cloudy
• overcast

Since everyone loves to talk about the weather, learning the weather vocabulary will help kids be able to participate in these common conversations.

How We Use It

I keep this handy glossary near my computer, and we refer to it when we’re checking the forecast.

We get to discuss what the weatherman means when he’s predicting scattered showers for example.  Then hopefully, if the weather report is correct, she gets to see a real life example of scattered showers that day.  

Weather discussions naturally happen throughout the day as she gets to see forecasted weather happen or not happen.

Printable Weather Report Glossary

You can download this weather glossary for kids below. It will be a great tool in making it easier for kids to understand the weather forecast.

The 3 page pdf is free and printable.

More Weather Worksheets

For older kids that are at least 5th grade and up, here is a free printable worksheet that will help kids master this weather vocabulary. It’s a weather forecast crossword puzzle that uses the vocabulary learned in this glossary.

Younger kids can learn about temperature with this printable temperature tracking graph.

And kids of all ages can work on spelling of weather words with:

• an easy weather word search
• medium difficulty level weather word search
• weather word search for 6th graders