The Weather

A. Cold Weather
1. Chilly: cold, but not very
2. Frost: thin white coat of ice on everything
3. Sleet: rain and snow mixed
4. Slush: dirty, brownish, half-snow, half water
5. Blizzard: snow blown by high winds
6. Snowdrift: deep banks of snow against walls, etc.
7. Freeze: temperatures are blow 0
8. Thaw: change from hard, frozen state to softer state

B. Warm/ hot weather
1. Close: warm and uncomfortable
2. Stifling: hot, uncomfortable, hardly breathe
3. Muggy: very warm and a little damp
4. Humid: hot and damp, makes sweat a lot
5. Scorching: very hot, often used in positive contexts
6. Boiling: very hot, often used in negative contexts
7. Mild: warm at the time when it is normally cold
8. Heatwave: very hot, dry period

C. Wet Weather
1. The wet weather scale gets stronger from: damp -> drizzle -> pour down -> downpour -> torrential rain -> flood
2. Shower: short duration

3. Storm: high winds and rain together
4. Thunderstorm: thunder and heavy rain
5. Hailstones: small balls of ice falling from the sky
6. Overcast: very cloudy

D. Mist and fog
1. Haze/ hazy: light mist, usually caused by heat
2. Mist/ misty: light fog, often on the sea, or cause by drizzle
3. Fog/ foggy: quite thick, associated with cold weather
4. Smog: mixture of fog and pollution (smoke + fog)

E. Wind
1. Breeze: enough to cool
2. Wind: fancy going sailing
3. Blustery: the umbrella will just blow away
4. Gale: crazy to go sailing
5. Hurricane

(Source: English Vocabulary in Use, Cambridge University Press)

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