Spanish Words for Snow and Winter Weather

An urban legend has it that the Eskimo language has 25 (or many more, depending on the version) words for snow. While the statement is seriously flawed, it does have some truth to it: Living languages, by their very nature, come up with the words or means to describe nearly everything that people talk about and to differentiate among them.

While Spanish may not be a language instantly associated with snow — most Spanish-speaking countries are in moderate climates — it has plenty of words and phrases for the white stuff, as this listing shows.

Words and Phrases for Snow and Related Phenomena

el agua nieve, el aguanieve: sleet, rain mixed with snow
el chubasco: intense snow shower
la conchesta: large snowdrift
copo, copo de nieve: snowflake
la cornisa de nieve: cornice
la cubiera de nieve: snow cover
cubierto de nieve: snow-covered
el cúmulo de nieve: snowdrift
la escarcha: frost
escarchado: covered with frost
el glaciar: glacier
la granizada: hailstorm
el granizo: hail, sleet, hailstone. The verb form is granizar.
el granizo blando: soft hail, graupel, snow pellet
la helada: frost
helado: (adjective) frozen, very cold
el hielo: ice
la nevada: snowfall; the amount of snow that has fallen over a period of time without interruption
el nevado: snow-capped mountain, snowcap (Latin American usage)
nevar: to snow (The Spanish verb is defective in that it is used only in the third-person singular form.)
la nevasca: fallen snow, snowfall, snowstorm, blizzard
la nevazón: snowstorm (word used in parts of South America)
el nevero: permanent mountain snowfield or the snow in such a snowfield
la nieve: snow
la nieve amontanada: driven snow

la nieve artificial: artificial snow
la nieve derretida: melted snow, snowbroth
la nieve dura: crusty snow, packed snow
la nieve fresca: fresh snow
la nieve fusión: snow that becomes almost liquid when it is skied or slid upon
la nieve húmeda: wet snow
la nieve medio derretida: slush
la nieve polvo: powder snow; a more colloquial term is nieve azúcar. meaning "sugar snow"
la nieve primaveral: spring snow
las nieves: snowfall
la nieve seca: dry snow
la nieve virgen: virgin snow
la piedra: hailstone (the word can refer to any type of stone)
la ráfaga: flurry (the word can also be used to refer to a rain shower)
la tormenta de nieve: snowstorm
la ventisca: blizzard
ventiscar, ventisquear: to blow snow with a strong wind, to blow a blizzard
el ventisquero: snowdrift

Spanish Words for Items or Situations Related to Snow

aislado por la nieve: snowbound, snowed under, snowed in
el alud: avalanche
la avalancha: avalanche
bloqueado por la nieve: snowbound, snowed under, snowed in
la bolita de nieve, la bola de nieve: snowball
las cadenas para nieve: snow chains
cegado por la nieve: snow-blind
el esquí: ski
esquiar: to ski
la motonieve: snowmobile
el muñeco de nieve: snowman
la quitanieve, la quitanieves: snowplow
la raqueta de nieve: snowshoe
el snowboard: snowboard
la tabla para nieve: snowboard
el traje de invierno: snowsuit, winter clothing

Translations of English Words or Phrases Using "snow"

Blancanieves: Snow White
tomarle el pelo a alguien: to do a snow job on someone
la nieve, la cocaína: snow (slang term meaning "cocaine")
el raspado: snowcone (term used in parts of Latin America)

Sample Sentences

Siguió nevando todo el día. (It kept on snowing all day.)
Si has llegado a tu destino y continúa granizando, no salgas del coche hasta que pare o se debilite la tormenta. (If you have arrived at your destination and it keeps on hailing, don't leave your car until it stops or the storm weakens.)
El frío de la noche originó una capa de hielo en el parabrisas. (The cold of the night created a layer of ice on the windshield.)
La nieve dura es una de las nieves más difíciles de esquiar. (Packed snow is one of the most difficult snows for skiing.)
El nieve polvo de Colorado es legendaria. (The powder snow of Colorado is legendary.)
Los turistas de la motonieve han llegado a la meta, totalmente agotados pero muy satisfechos. (The snowmobile tourists have arrived at the destination, totally worn out but very satisfied.)
Corríamos el riesgo de quedar bloqueados por la nieve. (We ran the risk of remaining snowed in.)
Una fuerte nevada cayó en las altas cumbres, donde la gente llegó a armar muñecos. (A heavy snowfall fell in the high peaks, where people arrived to build snowmen.)