Middle School Geography

Climate & Weather

Discover how the atmosphere works! Learn the difference between weather and climate, explore the water cycle, and understand what causes storms.

While they are related, weather and climate are not the same thing! The main difference is time.

Short-term conditions of the atmosphere (minutes to days). What you get today.

Long-term average of weather patterns (30+ years). What you expect.

Practice: Sort the Scenarios

Click Weather or Climate for each statement.

It's raining today in Seattle.

The Sahara Desert gets less than 4 inches of rain per year.

A hurricane is approaching the coast of Florida.

Antarctica is freezing cold year-round.