Weather and seasons

Weather verbs are impersonal: Es regnet, Es schneit. For how you feel, German uses the dative: Mir ist kalt, Mir ist heiß. Saying Ich bin kalt describes your personality, and Ich bin heiß says something you probably did not mean.

All four seasons are masculine and go with im: im Sommer, im Winter. Grad does not change after a number (zwanzig Grad, minus fünf Grad), and it always means Celsius.

Mind the dots on schwül. It means humid and sticky. Without the umlaut, schwul means gay. Eis is both ice and ice cream, so Eis essen is a summer plan. glatt in a forecast means slippery roads.

As small talk the weather is a safe opener at a bus stop. Schönes Wetter heute, oder? needs no more than a Ja, endlich! in return. A Schauer passes quickly. A Gewitter brings Blitz and Donner.