descriptive essay about cold weather

Essay on Cold Weather

Students are often asked to write an essay on Cold Weather in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Cold Weather

What is cold weather.

Cold weather is when the air gets very chilly. In many places, this happens in winter. During this time, the temperature goes down. This means it can be freezing outside. People wear coats, hats, and gloves to stay warm.

Effects on Nature

Staying warm.

In cold weather, we keep warm by wearing thick clothes. We also use heaters in our homes. Drinking hot drinks like cocoa can help too. It’s important to stay dry and wear layers.

Fun in the Cold

Even if it’s cold, you can have fun. Kids love to build snowmen, have snowball fights, and sled down hills. Skating on ice is another fun activity. Always dress warmly to enjoy these games safely.

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250 Words Essay on Cold Weather

Cold weather is when the air around us gets very chilly. This often happens in the winter season when the sun does not warm the earth as much. During this time, the temperature can drop so much that we need to wear warm clothes like jackets and hats to keep ourselves cozy.

Why Does Weather Get Cold?

The weather turns cold mainly because of the way the earth moves around the sun. When part of the earth is tilted away from the sun, it does not get as much sunlight. That part then cools down, and we experience winter. The opposite happens when the earth tilts towards the sun, bringing us warmer weather.

Activities in Cold Weather

Even though it’s chilly, we can still have fun in cold weather. Many people like to play in the snow, making snowmen or having snowball fights. Others enjoy winter sports like skiing or ice skating. But it’s important to dress warmly to stay safe and healthy while having fun outside.

Animals in the Cold

Animals have to adapt to the cold too. Some grow thicker fur, while others hibernate, which means they sleep through the coldest part of the year. Birds often fly to warmer places in a process called migration.

Staying Healthy

500 words essay on cold weather, introduction to cold weather.

Cold weather is a time when the air gets chilly and you can see your breath when you talk or breathe out. It happens in many places around the world, mainly during the winter months. When it’s cold, people wear warm clothes like jackets, hats, and gloves to keep themselves cozy.

What Makes Weather Cold?

The weather turns cold because of changes in the air and the earth’s position. The earth travels around the sun in a big circle, and sometimes certain parts of the earth are farther from the sun. When this happens, the sun’s warmth doesn’t reach those parts as much, and that’s why it gets cold. Also, when the sun’s rays hit the earth at a slant, they spread out and don’t warm the ground as much.

Even though it’s chilly, you can still have fun in cold weather! People like to play in the snow, building snowmen or making snow angels. Others enjoy winter sports like skiing, snowboarding, and ice skating. It’s important to dress warmly when you play outside in the cold to stay safe and comfortable.

Animals and Cold Weather

Staying healthy in the cold.

When it’s cold, you should take care to stay healthy. This means wearing the right clothes to keep warm and eating healthy food that gives you energy. It’s also good to keep moving and play active games, so your body stays warm. If you’re feeling too cold, it’s best to go inside and warm up.

How Cold Weather Affects Daily Life

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

Happy studying!

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Master List for Describing Weather

A lot of writers struggle with describing settings. I’ve written before about how to describe settings and why it matters , but a few people have told me they’d like me to do some of my master lists for writers to help them out!

I have a weird love for creating lists like this, so I’m happy to do it. “How to describe weather” seemed like a good place to start. This way, you won’t get stuck trying to figure out how to describe nice weather, or thinking up ways to describe rain. Hopefully, this will make your writing go faster.

I always include simple as well as more creative ways to describe or write about weather. Sometimes, the simple word is the one you want! I included dryness and humidity in a few of the categories because it felt weird for them to get their own.

As always, this is not a comprehensive list, and I might add to it. My list will probably make you think of other possibilities, too. Bookmark or pin it for future writing reference!

HOT WEATHER

blazing sunshine

glaring sun

baking in the sun

sun-drenched

scorching heat

extravagant heat

relentless sun

like a suana

dense tropical heat

radiating heat

blistering heat

oppressive heat

insufferable heat

suffocating heat

heat pressing down

searing sun

shimmering heat

like an oven

like a furnace

WARM / PLEASANT WEATHER

(“Pleasant” is a matter of opinion, of course.)

a beautiful day

a clear day

a temperate day

a golden day

a glorious day

heavenly weather

bright and sunny

a gorgeous spring day

a dazzling summer day

a brilliant autumn day

a vivid blue sky

a cloudless sky

fluffy white clouds

gentle sunshine

lazy sunshine

kind sunshine

filtered sunlight

dappled sunlight

welcome warmth

one of those rare, perfect days

the kind of day that made people forget to worry

the kind of day that lifted people’s moods

COOL WEATHER

refreshing air

stimulating cool air

invigorating cool air

bracing cool air

a nip in the air

a brisk day

a chilly day

weak sunshine

GRAY / OVERCAST WEATHER

(Most people don’t like gray days, so most of these descriptions are negative. I love them, so I had to add a few positive descriptions.)

colorless sky

a soft gray sky

a dove-gray sky

a gray day made for books and tea

steel-gray sky

granite sky

cement-gray sky

threatening clouds

foreboding clouds

COLD WEATHER

glacial air

bitter cold

brutal cold

bone-chilling cold

penetrating cold

devastating cold

numbing cold

punishing cold

dangerous cold

unforgiving cold

too cold to talk

so cold it burned one’s lungs

so cold it took one’s breath away

like a blast from a hair dryer

a gust of wind

insistent winds

heavy winds

strong winds

cutting wind

whipping winds

biting wind

wintry squall

violent gale

howling wind

shifting winds

restless wind

fresh breeze

soft breeze

balmy breeze

perfumed breeze

slight breeze

hint of a breeze

stirring breeze

wind rustling through the trees

fine drizzle

gray drizzle

pebbles of falling rain

spitting rain

stinging rain

steady rain

rain falling in torrents

cascades of rain

rain beating down

shower of rain

sheets of rain

hard-driving rain

pelting rain

lashing rain

slashing rain

THUNDER AND LIGHTNING

rumbling in the distance

a roll of distant thunder

crash of thunder

crackle of thunder

crack of thunder

clap of thunder

bang of thunder

booming thunder

rattled with thunder

earth-shaking thunder

tempestuous

a furious storm

flash of lightning

streaks of lightning

SNOW AND ICE

flurries of snow

dancing flakes

snowflakes floating down

snowflakes wafting down

swirling snow

falling thick and fast

big flakes falling like petals

blinding snowstorm

raging blizzard

sparkling expanses

blankets of white

caked with snow

boulders of snow

branches coated in ice

glittering ice

crystallized by frost

silvered with frost

clouds of mist

swirling mist

billowing fog

cloaked in mist

cocooned in fog

shrouded in fog

enveloped by fog

smothered by fog

made mysterious by fog

the fog rolled in

the fog was burning off

the fog was lifting

the fog was clearing

the fog was dissipating

I have many lists like this in my book Master Lists for Writers: Thesauruses, Plots, Character Traits, Names, and More . Check it out!

Master Lists for Writers by Bryn Donovan

Do you describe weather conditions in your writing? Do you have a favorite example of a weather description? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading, and happy writing!

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How To Describe Settings – and Why It Matters #how to write more descriptively #how to describe scenery in writing #how to make a novel longer

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Let it snow: 6 of the best descriptions of winter weather in literature.

Oh, the weather outside is frightful! But the reading is so delightful… Weather (sorry) or not you love the snow—blanketing your driveway, stalling your subway lines—it’s hard to deny that there have been some pretty darn good descriptions of it in literature, the kind that make you want to curl up by the fire (or, in my case, the space heater). Personally, I think I like winter weather best when it’s on the page and not the thing standing between me and the closest bar or the corner bodega when I’m out of popcorn. In an attempt to reframe the cold months ahead for myself, I have assembled some of the most beautiful/relatable descriptions of snow I could find in fiction. Perhaps now I will think of it as one of these instead of being irrationally irritated by Mother Nature’s cruel attempts to curb my snacking and my social life. So, here we go: let it snow! Sit down with these delightfully icy passages, and keep the hot cocoa coming.

From Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina :

At first she was unable to read. To begin with she was bothered by the bustle and movement; then, when the train started moving, she could not help listening to the noises; then the snow that beat against the left-hand window and stuck to the glass, and the sight of the conductor passing by, all bundled up and covered with snow on one side, and the talk about the terrible blizzard outside, distracted her attention. Further on it was all the same; the same jolting and knocking, the same snow on the window, the same quick transitions from steaming heat to cold and back to heat, the same flashing of the same faces in the semi-darkness, and the same voices, and Anna began to read and understand what she was reading.

From Italo Calvino’s If on a winter’s night a traveler :

So here I am walking along this empty surface that is the world. There is a wind grazing the ground, dragging with flurries of fine snow the last residue of the vanished world: a bunch of ripe grapes which seems just picked from the vine, an infant’s woolen bootee, a well-oiled hinge, a page that seems torn from a novel written in Spanish, with a woman’s name: Amaranta. Was it a few seconds ago that everything ceased to exist, or many centuries? I’ve already lost any sense of time.

From Ali Smith’s Winter :

And here instead’s another version of what was happening that morning, as if from a novel in which Sophia is the kind of character she’d choose to be, prefer to be, a character in a much more classic sort of story, perfectly honed and comforting, about how sombre yet bright the major-symphony of winter is and how beautiful everything looks under a high frost, how every grassblade is enhanced and silvered into individual beauty by it, how even the dull tarmac of the roads, the paving under our feet, shines when the weather’s been cold enough and how something at the heart of us, at the heart of all our cold and frozen states, melts when we encounter a time of peace on earth, goodwill to all men; a story in which there is no room for severed heads; a work in which Sophia’s perfectly honed minor-symphony modesty and narrative decorum complement the story she’s in with the right kind of quiet wisdom-from-experience ageing-female status, making it a story that’s thoughtful, dignified, conventional in structure thank God, the kind of quality literary fiction where the slow drift of snow across the landscape is merciful, has a perfect muffling decorum of its own, snow falling to whiten, soften, blur and prettify even further a landscape where there are no heads divided from bodies hanging around in the air or anywhere, either new ones, from new atrocities or murders or terrorisms, or old ones, left over from old historic atrocities and murders and terrorisms and bequeathed to the future as if in old French Revolution baskets, their wickerwork brown with the old dried blood, placed on the doorsteps of the neat and central-heating-interactive houses of now with notes tied to the handles saying please look after this head thank you […]

From Donna Tartt’s The Secret History :

The snow in the mountains was melting and Bunny had been dead for several weeks before we came to understand the gravity of our situation.

From Kelly Link’s Stranger Things Happen :

The next day it was snowing and he went out for a pack of cigarettes and never came back. You sat on the patio drinking something warm and alcoholic, with nutmeg in it, and the snow fell on your shoulders. You were wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt; you were pretending that you weren’t cold, and that your lover would be back soon. You put your finger on the ground and then stuck it in your mouth. The snow looked like sugar, but it tasted like nothing at all.

From Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol :

Holly, mistletoe, red berries, ivy, turkeys, geese, game, poultry, brawn, meat, pigs, sausages, oysters, pies, puddings, fruit, and punch, all vanished instantly. So did the room, the fire, the ruddy glow, the hour of night, and they stood in the city streets on Christmas morning where (for the weather was severe) the people made a rough, but brisk and not unpleasant kind of music, in scraping the snow from the pavement in front of their dwellings, and from the tops of their houses, whence it was mad delight to the boys to see it come plumping down into the road below, and splitting into artificial little snow-storms.

The house fronts looked black enough, and the windows blacker, contrasting with the smooth white sheet of snow upon the roofs, and with the dirtier snow upon the ground; which last deposit had been ploughed up in deep furrows by the heavy wheels of carts and wagons; furrows that crossed and re-crossed each other hundreds of times where the great streets branched off; and made intricate channels, hard to trace, in the thick yellow mud and icy water. The sky was gloomy, and the shortest streets were choked up with a dingy mist, half thawed, half frozen, whose heavier particles descended in a shower of sooty atoms, as if all the chimneys in Great Britain had, by one consent, caught fire, and were blazing way to their dear hearts’ content. There was nothing very cheerful in the climate of the town, and yet was there an air of cheerfulness abroad that the clearest summer air and brightest summer sun might have endeavoured to diffuse in vain.

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160+ Ways to Describe Weather

I keep a collection of descriptions that have pulled me into the books I read. I’m fascinated how authors can–in just a few words–put me in the middle of their story and make me want to stay there. This one’s 160+ Ways to Describe Weather.

A note: These are for inspiration only . They can’t be copied because they’ve been pulled directly from an author’s copyrighted manuscript (intellectual property is immediately copyrighted when published).

Evening shadows deepened into blue and purple.
The shadows retreated.
Sun was sinking toward the horizon, the pitiless white ball now an angry orange.
Fading afternoon in early June
Evening sky had turned to molten brass.
Sun still cast a faint yellow light through Slowly gathering evening.
Daylight had begun to drain away.
one-quarter of a moonlit night
silver-white moon hung
A half-moon rests in the fronds over our heads.
watching the horizon drain of color
The shadows slipped up the rocks as though the world were drowning in darkness.
deepening shadows made it a city of ghosts
barely visible in the fading light
the high heavens
Darkness settled around him.
The shadows slipped up the rocks.
Evening was crisp already, the last of sunset just a fading pale stripe in the western sky.
darkening river
the moon golden at dawn, turn purple just before sunset in the rainy season, sometimes has white and black stripes created by volcanic ash, calm and clear sometimes attended by only a single cloud
humpback shapes of conical hills
The last rays of sun skimmed the surface.
late afternoon sun
velvety darkness
night shattered like a mirror
the Southern Cross lying on its side, the green meadow bathed in the humid light of the sinking sun
The corners have just about disappeared into the shadows.
black branches that traced the blue-black heavens overhead
far away down the night sky
full moon a pale blue-white disk
night sky dull black
Stars were remote pinpricks.
a half-moon rests in the fronds over our heads
inky blackness
Thick clouds blotted out the stars.
A thin layer of clouds masked the full moon, filling the room with blue light.
Sun cast a luminescent glow.
The day was out of sync with his mood.
beautiful, 82 degrees, mild breeze, cloudless sunshine, a day for looking at a ball game
The air was cool but the sun was out.
The wind blew itself out overnight.
a web of clouds, back-lit by the failing sun, mist billowed through the trees and over the fields and hung low in the air, masking the camp in a ghostly gray
towering thunder clouds
Clouds threatening, but no rain predicted the 45-mile per hour gusts of drizzly wind.
brown cloud that passes for air
a wedge of sunlight bursting past the narrow window
The wind was icy and withering.
Heads bowed against the gusting wind.
Grit grated in his teeth. Dust was everywhere, blowing on the wind, leaving its scent in his nostrils.
as dust motes drifted
thirty miles over the horizon
razor edge of the horizon
cinder dust and gloom
The haze floated over the crowd like smoke from a doused fire.
Sun hanging in a pink haze of clouds and smog.
Fog yellowed by agricultural burning.
Fog began to billow across the road in a great grey mass like the effluent of a thousand smokestacks. The building was only a shadowy form, almost entirely lost to view.
Headlamps of cars did little to pierce the gloom.
The mist floated like smoke out of the cypress in the swamp.
dark clouds drifting over the hills
night was pitch
slice of sky
thick clouds blotted out the stars
a thin layer of clouds masked the full moon, filling the room with blue light
cool restful shady world with light filtering lazily through the treetops that meet high overhead and shut out the direct sunlight
saw the anvil of cloud coming in. “A thunderstorm.”
Cumulus clouds falling down to the…
A light breeze whispered through the trees.
cloud shadows
first cumulus clouds darkening into thunderheads
hold humidity like a sponge holds water
thick heat of the growing morning
fierce humidity
windless heat
It was surprisingly hot. He could feel the sweat roll down his sides and the dampness of the box up against his chest.
Even with the breeze, the air remained thick and hot, and it stills tank of petroleum.
sky as gray-white and sunless
against the fading layers of orange, yellow
shoulders hunched against the early morning damp and cool
fused warm light of dawn now creeping down the summit
bathed in sunlight
gold shadow not three inches from his leg
his breath steaming in the air
Snow pelted his face and he pulled up the collar of his overcoat to further shield him from the bitter weather.
rubbed his arms
A harsh winter wind blew out of a midnight sky. It roared out of the frigid north and thrashed the brooking forest. The force of it bent trees, whipping their bare branches like angry lashes. Shrieking across the river.
Cold was like that, seeping through her seven layers of clothing, attacking seams and zipper tracks and spots of thin insulation. The exposed skin on her face felt as if it had been touched with lit cigarettes.
frigid Friday morning
swirling snow
winter’s naked branches created a black tracework
The sun was climbing out of the deep well of winter, but it was still brutally cold.
winter colors daubed the land in colors of brown and gray
sunny, crisp and cool
The crisp air and clear sky energized his thoughts.

Rainy weather

grey wet morning
rain-swept and unpleasantly chilly
A flurry of rain stung my face.
Cold rain was beating down on my windshield.
The sky was leaden.
Downpour started in the early evening and continued on through the night, a heavy pelting of water that thundered against rooftops and drowned out the sound of all else. By morning, city streets were shallow rivers rushing toward the ocean.
Rain ran down the window, the streets gleamed.
damp paving stones
By the time it reaches the ground, it has spent its energy.
windshield wipers barely keeping up with the cold, hard rain
The rain came steady and cold against the windshield and rattled on the roof of the car.
turned her head away and looked out my window, where it had gotten dark and shiny with the lights glistening off the rain.
The maple trees were black and slick in the rain, their bare branches shiny. The flower bed was a soggy matting of dead stems.
The sky was low and gray.
Air was swollen.
the rain was steady and warm and vertical
drizzly rain
The sleety rain drizzled down, not very hard and not very fast, but steady.
Rain came down so hard it almost hurt, stinging the skin and blowing into the eyes and nose and mouth, but in the forest its fall is broken by the trees.
saw a distant flash of lightning, counted the seconds, and then said, “six miles, more or less.”

People in hot weather:

Heat wave hit, temperatures went soaring.
The heat hit them like a hand in the face.
strode into the dusk, into the stifling heat
The heat smacked the grin off his face.
Burst back into the blistering hot sun. Sweat immediately beaded across her brow. She could feel her T-shirt glue itself stickily to her skin.
I could feel the sweat form along my backbone and trickle down.
She slogged forward, feeling blotches of dark gray sweat bloom across the front of her T-shirt, while more trailed down the small of her back.
slogging across pavement as hot as ash in August.
white dress shirt, sharply pressed this morning, was now plastered against his chest
already short of breath, his lungs laboring as they headed down the path
still wrung out from working in the heat
Take your shirt off. Pop your underwear in the freezer. Dump a tray of ice cubes on your bed. Throw back some chilled vodka shots before you go to sleep.
The semi-drought slowly draining the life out of the grass and trees.
Only 7 in the morning, and already stocky hot. *** had a sheen across his forehead.
Sweat tricked from his forehead which he wiped with the back of his knotted, callused hand.
hundred degree heat, burning sun and parching salt
ninety-five outside, probably a hundred in the car. Not great weather for polyester suits
a fresh drop of sweat teared up on her brow and made a slow, wet path down the plane of her cheek
walking through a hair dryer
The heat slammed her like a blow.
*** cranked the air-conditioning. She stripped off her sweat-soaked clothes, climbed into the shower and scrubbed.
answered the phone while used the other hand to wipe the sweat from the back of her neck. God this heat was unbearable. The humidity level had picked up on Sunday and hadn’t done a thing to improve since.
*** thin green sundress was already plastered to her body while she could feel fresh dewdrops of moisture trickle stickily down between her breast.
Cradled the phone closer to her damp ear
Her face shiny with sweat.
Summer sun remained a brilliant, blinding white. No shade existed for miles and the heat rising up from the baked earth was brutal.
The summer heat came off the tarmac in waves.

Hot Weather

While the mercury climbed to a hundred degrees. Efforts started strong, then petered out. People got hot, got tired, got busy with other things—inside things.
Seemed to be bracing himself for leaving the cool comfort of air-conditioning behind and bursting once more into the heat
The heat settled in on them, rolling in like a heavy blanket and pressing them deep into their chairs while their clothing glued to their skin.
Even my teeth are sweating
The sun beat down relentlessly; even with the AC cranked up, she could feel the heat.
She could already feel sweat trickle down her back.
The sun burned white-hot overhead.
glass exploding from the heat of the sun
vanish in the dry season’s brown leaves

Click for the complete list of 69 writer’s themed descriptions .

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Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Man vs. Nature saga, the Rowe-Delamagente thrillers , and the acclaimed Building a Midshipman , the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy . She is also the author/editor of over a hundred books on integrating tech into education, adjunct professor of technology in education, blog webmaster, an Amazon Vine Voice , and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. Look for her next prehistoric fiction, Savage Land Winter 2024

122 thoughts on “ 160+ Ways to Describe Weather ”

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Weaving words so perfectly – Thanks for sharing. And overnight, a transformation. Summer at last.,, .

Like Liked by 1 person

These really inspire me. I often read through my collections when I’m stuck.

helped my writing

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Reblogged this on Coffee82 and commented: Awesome.

Like Liked by 2 people

Nice collection! A lot of poetic and inventive phrasing there.

✨🙏🕉🌱🌿🌳🌻💚🕊☯🐉✨

Weather is so many different things to different people. Not surprising I found 160 descriptions of it.

Ha! yes – that got me thinking about the old “Number of words for snow” question, and I found this . As a Scot myself though I have to say I am very, very skeptical of the final claim in that article!

I’ve heard of that, too. Luckily, my folks don’t have that problem but it is truly an issue if you’re writing about present-day groups in snowy lands.

Appreciate your list of ways to describe the weather. Timeless too. Here I am 2 years since your post and inspired by your creativity. Take care, Steve

It is timeless, isn’t it! When I put this list together, it helped me to better appreciate weather.

Impressive list. (Mine, now!) I’m compiling one for similes. Raymond Chandler makes me smile with his off the wall analogies. I recently added a Writing Terms Checklist on my free checklists page. It was too long for a post. Thanks for all you do!

I like checklists. I’ll check yours out!

Hi Jacqui, Thanks for reading my modest post. What an accomplished woman you are! What would we do without words, eh! Cheers. Joy x

Thanks, Joy. I enjoyed your thoughts. It’s amazing what inspired such accomplished writers as the Brontes.

Excellent list, Jacqui. I even get lots of ideas for titles, something I’m always struggling with entering competitions.

I grab these from books I read. You can probably tell I favor thrillers, action. I like ‘weather’ and ‘setting’ to be a character as much as the others.

That’s an amazing compilation. Thanks for sharing!!

Thanks! These sorts of lists inspire me.

An awesome post, Jacqui. Thank you. Weather intrigues. It is joy-filled and sometimes furious. God is bowling upstairs during a thunderstorm. Be well and enjoy the week. ox

Thanks–weather is fascinating. I like when I can feel it through an author’s words.

Indeed and thank you, Jacqui. Word play is an enjoyable activity. We have about seven months of winter, two days of spring and then summer at our end of the pond in Upstate New York. I love my four seasons. Be well.

7 months of winter. I didn’t know NY was that cold! Good to know so I never move there!

Jacqui, I laughed at your comment. We live near Lake Ontario and Oneida Lake and get frequent lake effect snow storms in winter. When I first moved to this area, I learned about lake effect snowstorms. We have excellent snow removal though so come on over sometime. Colorful in Autumn too.

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These are great, Jacqui! And yes, inspirational. It’s good to see how other authors describe things; it gives ideas on alternates.

It is. There are some very clever minds out there.

What an epic list 😀 Reminds me of a ‘music’ video we were recommended to watch for university called ’50 words for snow.’ It’s fun to think of different ways to describe things!

That must be put out by Eskimos. They know more about snow than anyone I’ve seen.

That’s a long list, Jacqui. So many ways to tell the day. Thanks for sharing this!

It’s one of my longest! Who knew?

That’s a lot of ideas for talking about the weather 🙂

Dinner party chat.

Quite eloquent 🙂

These lists are so inspirational! Thank you for posting this.

It is pretty interesting to view weather through so many literary eyes, innit?

Yes, indeed. I learn so much. 🙂

great list Jacqui. i use the weather regularly in my stories to create a specific mood. thanks for the info.

A bit of unexpected inspiration. Who knew weather was so interesting?

exactly, Jacqui. i also post weather images regularly on instagram. especially the colours of sunrises and sunsets in clouds during different seasons and different weather conditions.

Interesting post, Jacqui. Thanks.

I highlight memorable phrases in the Kindle books I read. Although I no longer transcribe them into a file on my computer (too time-consuming), the mere act of highlighting imprints the phrases in my mind. If an author particularly impresses me, I can scroll through the highlights and reread the highlights for inspiration.

That’s how I do it, too. I like it so well, I’ve migrated from being a print book reader to a Kindle reader.

It’s nice to see the wide variety of language. Not that it is needy. I can describe the weather currently in my area in one word — sucky! 😀

Ah South Korea. It rained most of the time on my one visit there. And no one but me seemed to care!

We’re having a monsoon right now. Don’t remember having a good one of these for a while.

I remember my son telling me July was the typhoon season, which is why we visited in May. Stay safe!

Nothing that crazy. We had a tropical depression pass through, but that’s it. It’s just wet.

I love the idea of keeping a notebook with descriptions that catch your attention. I’m going to start doing this.

Mine is so long,d I added a table of contents with links to the sections! I’m a bit nuts about it.

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I love the way you compile and share these lists with us, Jacqui. They are amazing and so helpful. Can I confess something? I share some of them with my creative writing students, and then give them prompts where they have to include 3 or more things from your lists. Will be interesting to see how I do that with weather. 🙂

This one got a little long. Who knew there were so many clever ways to describe weather?

I am flattered you share them! I would say weather could surprise them.

This one IS long – but weather gives us a lot to talk about and a lot to experience. I love the list. I will say, the prompt my students seem to love the best is. (are you sitting down?) “It was a dark and stormy night…” 🙂

Reblogged this on Marina Costa and commented: Interesting and useful to know.

Thanks for sharing, Marina!

The English should love this…

I would say India not so much. Do you-all get anything other than hot and humid or too-darn-windy?

What a helpful post, Jacqui! It reminds me of how we can put effort into our descriptions.

BTW, you won a book on my blog. Please confirm there.

Ooh, sorry I missed that. I just went over and replied and then emailed my info to you. How exciting!

Reblogged this on quirkywritingcorner and commented: I love her lists of descriptions. I hope you find them as helpful as I do.

Thanks for sharing this! It puts to bed any thought that weather is boring, doesn’t it?

That’s quite a collection, Jacqui. Isn’t it amazing that each of us can conjure something unique?

It is! Next time you don’t know what to say to someone, you can eruditely talk about the weather!

That’s so funny. Weather ‘small’ talk. Who would’ve thought. 😂

Great post. That’s a wonderful collection

Thank you so much, Luisa. It’s hard to make weather interesting but some very clever authors have done just that.

Jacqui, I love this post. The more I have been reading, the more I recognize how important it is for authors to paint a picture in your mind. To be able to put you right in the middle of the books setting. Sometimes when my mind has trailed off the story, it is descriptions like these that put my mind right back in.

That’s true, innit. A little inspiration to start your day.

I love your descriptions of weather and the times of day. Such descriptions can help add a sense of time in a story (just as the phases of the moon or the stars can create time (crescent moon in evening is aa new waxing moon, crescent moon in morning before sunrise is a waxing moon just before the “dark of the moon” which are the three days the moon is in the shadow of the earth. As for stars: Orion in winter, Scorpus in summer, etc). The dog star in Canis Major, Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, rising in late summer (as it rises just before daylight) is linked to “dog days” of summer…

I also like the old graveside prayer that describes the end of life: “until the shadows lengthen and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, then in thy mercy grant us a safe lodging and a holy rest and peace at last.”

What a wonderful poem. I’ve copied it. It captures so much of the fear and hope.

Thanks for these awesome examples, Jacqui! Saving and sharing…

It’s always fun to talk about the weather, innit?

New Jersey weather: moist ‘n’ icky.

Good description, especially the ‘icky’.

I calls ‘em like I sees ‘em.

Oh my, Jacqui. I love your lists and that’s a good long one. Great thought starters. Thanks for sharing your collection!

Since we-all know we must cover weather, I thought these were clever asnd interesting ways to do that!

Ha ha ha. I love weather. 😀

Right now there is only one way to describe the weather here in my city: hot

Here, too, though I have an excellent fan in my home office.

Some great phrases here, Jacqui. I am reading The Long Walk by Bachman/King at the moment and that has some very descriptive phrases in it.

Oooh, I’ll have to look at him. I love nature writers.

It’s not a nature book, it is a dark psychological horror.

Woah! OK, that’s different!

Darn! All the things I was about to write! 😀

Hehee. These are beyond most of what I write but I’ve seen what you turn out. Excellent.

Wonderful post!

Thanks, Ed. Food for thought…

A lot, just wonderful and so helpful.

My goodness …. can I just say ‘HOT’ … luckily today it’s cooler with a sea breeze … I need to read them all – clever and thank you! Cheers Hilary

Hot works. Absolutely.

Hahaha can I just say HOT, or the weather outside is weather yeah?

What a wonderful list, Jacqui! These are descriptions that always make me pause and reread them to fully enjoy them. They do draw the reader deep the story. I enjoyed reading these, thanks:)

Thanks! They do that for me, too, and that’s why I couldn’t just read and move on. I had to note them!

Some of these are quite lovely. Thanks for sharing.

If you recognized them from your outdoors scenes, feel free to add a note!

I actually didn’t recognize any of them. 🤔

OMG, Jacqui. What an amazing list Thanks for sharing.

It’s really nice for those whose plots take place outdoors a lot!

BTW, finished your book. Couldn’t stop reading. Wonderful.

Thank you, Jacqui. You put a smile on my face:)

Wow, great post. Bookmarking.

Amazing how much there is to say about the weather, innit?

I love weather, the seasons, earth and sky. There were some lovely gems in this collection. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks, Mae. I didn’t used to think much about the weather until I had to write about it, and make it interesting! These really struck me.

A terrific resource Jacqui. Thank you.

Thanks so much, Brigid. I couldn’t believe how many weather descriptors I had!

Nice information thanks

Thanks! Everyone writes about weather, right?

Great list, Jacqui. Thanks so much for sharing.

Thanks, Jill. Who says weather isn’t interesting? Hmm??

I think I’d like to be a meteorologist in my next life. 🙂

Reblogged this on chrismakan .

Thanks for sharing!

Wow this is very educative

I love how some writers weave their words so perfectly.

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Describe The Weather In Writing With Better Vocabulary

When you describe the weather in writing, you set the scene for your story or a part of your story.

It’s an opportunity to show readers the setting rather than tell them about the weather using a couple of quick adjectives.

Using highly descriptive or figurative language and a variety of grammar structures helps you paint the picture vividly in a reader’s mind.

In almost every story, both fiction and nonfiction, there is usually at least one reference to the weather.

Article Contents

How to describe the weather in writing

We all know this famous opening line from Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s 1830 novel, Paul Clifford.

It was a dark and stormy night.

Many have criticized the phrase, and Writer’s Digest went as far as to call it the literary poster child for bad story starters.

The main issue is that it uses two very weak adjectives: dark and stormy. Neither of them is usefully descriptive.

The second problem with the phrase is that it starts with a grammatical expletive .

When writing about the weather, using it was, or there was is a common writing fault. It’s because we so often refer to the weather as it.

But few people take into account what follows Bulwer-Lytton’s famous clause. It’s a pity because the complete sentence is a wonderful example of how to describe the weather in writing.

It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents—except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.

He uses descriptive noun phrases , strong verbs, and powerful adjectives.

The combination of these three elements paints a vivid picture for readers.

Choosing your vocabulary

You can find many lists of common and unusual words to describe the weather, so you have plenty of choices.

But you should avoid words that are too simplistic. It was hot, cold, windy, or rainy are all very weak expressions.

But if you describe the heat, the cold, the wind, or the rain with noun phrases, you can improve these easily.

The sun started baking early across the plains, delivering a scorching promise for the day ahead.

The cruel icy wind cut like a knife across her cheeks.

Rain, as always, arrived too little, too late to save the crops.

Words that are not widely understood are also worth avoiding. While it’s interesting to find new words, not all of them are useful.

A good example is petrichor. It is the smell or scent of rain arriving after a period of dry weather.

But it is difficult to use, and it might send readers hunting for a dictionary.

The petrichor gave a hint of hope to the farmers.

It would be better to use a descriptive phrase.

The sweet far off scent of rain on dying grass gave hope to the farmers.

Brontide is another, meaning the sound of distant thunder or rumblings of an earth tremor. Again, it’s a great word to know, but with very limited use in writing.

Try this simple formula

Anytime you need to write about the weather, keep this little trick in mind.

Start with a noun phrase, use a strong verb , then add a descriptive clause .

You also need to describe the noun and verb with adjectives and adverbs.

Here’s a quick example.

The heavy dark clouds rolled slowly and low across the parched pastures, but they were heartbreakers, as not a drop of rain fell before the cruel wind carried them away.

It’s an easy way to make sure you avoid the grammatical expletive and weak adjectives.

You can also experiment with similes or metaphors . For example, raining cats and dogs.

Use verbs that sound like the weather

Onomatopoeic verbs and words are perfect for describing the weather because they make a sound.

Here are a few examples to illustrate sound words.

The pitter-patter of raindrops.

Thunder rumbled overhead.

Light hail pinged on the window pane.

With each step, the fresh snow crunched underfoot.

A bolt of lightning cracked across the night sky.

A cold north wind hissed through the trees.

A sudden boom of thunder forewarned us of the approaching storm.

Verbs and words like these are extremely useful because they are action words and highly descriptive.

This article is not a lesson or lecture on how to describe the weather in writing.

It’s purely a reminder that you can always improve.

I have listed a few ideas above, but there are many more ways you can make the weather more interesting.

All it takes is to remember that the setting for a scene or a story needs careful thought and imagination.

But if there are two key takeaways from my article, they are these.

1. Avoid using the grammatical expletive when referencing the weather.

2. Use noun phrases and strong verbs.

If you do those two things, the rest of your weather scene setting will come very easily.

Related reading: Words To Avoid In Writing That Say Nothing

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101 Words To Describe Weather

Writers know that using the weather in their descriptions is a great way to make stories more relatable. Use this comprehensive list of words that describe weather when you write.

Writers Write is a resource for writers and we have written about words that describe taste , smell , sound , and touch in previous posts. (We even have one for words that describe colours .) In this post, I have included words that describe weather.

Weather is a wonderful tool for writers. We can use it to foreshadow , create a mood , complicate a plot , show a character , and increase or decrease the pace of a story. We can even use it as a motif .

A setting without the weather is like a character without a wardrobe.

Remember that we need to describe weather through our characters’ interactions with their environments. We should not describe it like a weather report. You could show how cold it is by the clothes they choose to wear or mention the weather in dialogue.

Whatever you do, don’t leave it out. There are unintended consequences to a lack of setting , including a static character, a lack of atmosphere, an inability for the reader to relate to the place and time in the story, and a lack of details.

What Is Weather?

According to Oxford it is ‘the state of the atmosphere at a particular place and time as regards heat, cloudiness, dryness, sunshine, wind, rain, etc.’

Words To Describe Weather

General words describing weather.

climate – the type of weather that a country or region has
climate change – changes in the earth’s weather, including changes in temperature, wind patterns and rainfall, especially the increase in the temperature of the earth’s atmosphere that is caused by the increase of particular gases, especially carbon dioxide
meteorology – the scientific study of weather
seasonal – suitable or typical of the time of year it is now
spell – a period when there is a particular type of weather
weather forecast – a report on likely weather conditions for a period of time in the future
zone – one of the large areas that the world is divided into according to its temperature

Words Describing Warm Weather

balmy – warm and pleasant
blistering – extremely hot in a way that is uncomfortable
dog days – the hottest days of the year
heatwave – a continuous period of very hot weather, especially when this is unusual
Indian summer – a period of warm weather in autumn
scorcher – an extremely hot day
sunny – not stormy or cloudy
thaw – ice and snow turns into water
the heat – very hot weather
tropical – like weather near the equator, climate that is frost-free

Words Describing Cold Weather

bleak – very cold and grey
biting – so cold that it makes you feel uncomfortable
brisk – fairly cold and a fairly strong wind is blowing
crisp – cold and dry
fresh – fairly cold and the wind is blowing
frosty – cold enough to produce frost
hard – a very cold winter
harsh – extremely cold and unpleasant
icy – very cold, like ice
raw – cold and unpleasant
snowy – covered with snow

Words Describing Pleasant Weather

calm – very little wind
clear – no clouds, rain, etc.
clement – pleasant because it is neither very hot nor very cold
cloudless – no clouds in the sky
equable – does not change very much
fair – pleasant and not raining
fine – sunny and not raining
pleasant – dry and neither very hot nor very cold
still – without wind
temperate – a temperate climate or region is never extremely hot or extremely cold
windless – without any wind

Words To Describe Unpleasant Weather

bone-dry – completely without water or moisture
fierce – very strong or severe
foul – unpleasant, with rain, snow, or wind
gale-force – an extremely strong wind
gusty – the wind blowing in gusts
humid – hot and wet in a way that makes you feel uncomfortable
muggy – warm in an unpleasant way because the air feels wet
murky – dark and unpleasant because of fog, clouds, etc.
severe – extremely unpleasant and likely to cause harm or damage
sultry – the air is hot and slightly wet
threatening – clouds, skies, or seas show that the weather is likely to be bad
torrential – rain falling in large amounts
unseasonable – not the type of weather that you expect in a particular season
windy – with a lot of wind

Words To Describe Wet & Cloudy Weather

bank – a large mass of cloud or fog
billow – a cloud that rises and moves in a large mass
blizzard – a snowstorm with very strong winds
cirrocumulus – small round clouds that form lines high in the sky
cirrostratus – a thin layer of cloud found very high in the sky
cirrus – a type of thin cloud found very high in the sky
cloudy – full of clouds
column – something that rises up into the air in a straight line
cumulonimbus – a mass of very tall thick cloud that usually brings rain and sometimes thunder
cumulus – a large low white cloud that is round at the top and flat at the bottom
dull – when there are a lot of clouds and it is rather dark
fog – a thick cloud that forms close to the ground or to water and is difficult to see through (fog is thicker than mist)
fogbound – not able to operate normally because of thick fog
foggy – full of fog or covered with fog
gather – if clouds gather, they start to appear and cover part of the sky
grey – when it is not very bright, because there is a lot of cloud
hurricane – a violent storm with very strong winds
inclement – unpleasantly cold or wet
lower – if clouds lower, they are very dark, as if a storm is coming
mist – small drops of liquid in the air
misty – lots of mist in the air
nimbus – a dark grey rain cloud
overcast – a sky completely full of clouds
pall – cloud that covers an area and makes it darker
pea souper – thick low cloud that prevents you from seeing anything
scud – clouds moving quickly
sea mist – a thin low cloud that comes onto the land from the sea
steam- the wet substance that forms on windows and mirrors when wet air suddenly becomes hot or cold
storm cloud – a very dark cloud
squall – a sudden violent gust of wind or localized storm, especially one bringing rain, snow, or sleet.
thundercloud – a storm cloud producing thunder
tsunami – an extremely large wave in the sea
typhoon – a violent tropical storm with very strong winds
vapour – very small drops of water or other liquids in the air that make the air feel wet
vog – smog that contains dust and gas from volcanoes

Words To Describe Changes In Weather

break – if the weather breaks, it changes unexpectedly, and usually becomes worse
break through – if the sun breaks through the clouds, it appears from behind them
brighten up – if the weather brightens up, it becomes sunnier
clear up – if the weather clears up, the clouds or rain go away
close in – if the weather closes in, it becomes unpleasant
cloud – to become darker because grey clouds are forming in the sky
ease – if bad weather such as wind or rain eases, it becomes less strong
fickle – weather that is fickle changes often and unexpectedly
lift – if something such as cloud or fog lifts, the weather improves and you can see clearly again
melt away – if ice or snow melts away, it changes into water as it gets warmer
thaw – if the weather thaws, it becomes warmer and causes ice or snow to change into liquid
track – if weather tracks in a particular direction, it moves in that direction

The Last Word

I hope these words that describe weather help you with your writing.

If you’re looking for help with describing setting, buy our Setting Up The Setting Workbook .

1 thought on “101 Words To Describe Weather”

And nowadays there’s also Pyrocumulonimbus.

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How to Write the Cold: Quick Tips for Writers

How to write the cold - Novlr quick tips

The way we feel cold is universal, but the way we contextualise it is not. Cold has a variety of connotations for readers, so it’s important to decide how to use it, and what mood you want to convey in your scene.

While cold is often associated with negative aspects in writing, if there’s anything the winter season teaches us, is that it can be a positive thing as well. Rather than just using the word cold, in your next writing project, try to contextualise it. Describe the weather, the light on the snow, the comfort of warmth after an icy swim, or the fear and loneliness of the dark on a cold night.

Here are our quick tips on how to write the cold:

Clean mountain air
Glittering ice crystals
Unique wildlife, like snow hares or polar bears
Snow muffled sounds
Steam rising from hot springs
Icy water in rivers and lakes
Overcast and rainy
Bright sun on fresh snow
Icebergs, glaciers, and ice floes
Storms and blizzards
Branches moving and creaking
Frozen ponds
Morning frost on grass
Snowdrops pushing through snowdrifts
Crisp and clear night skies
Wolves howling in the dark
Bare branches scraping against windows
Eerie shadows

Foods and objects

The scent of cinnamon and nutmeg
Heavy winter coats and scarves
Rich, hot meals with lots of gravy
Tea or coffee left out too long
Ice-cream, sorbets, or ice-lollies
Metal that is cold to the touch (like pots and pans or door handles)
Cold beverages straight out of the fridge
An icy bath
Freezer trucks or walk-in refrigerators
Crisp, fresh sheets on cold nights
Ice sculptures
A tap with a drip that freezes in place
Frozen celebratory drinks (like daiquiris)
A single cube of ice floating in a whisky glass
A cold pack for an injury

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Character moods.

Comfortable
Indifferent
A lack of affection
Calm and calculated

Character body language

Hunched shoulders
Crossed arms
Snuggling into something warm
Rub hands together for warmth
Tight or strained expression
Biting dry lips
Furrowing brow
Glaring against brightness
Tense and rigid stance
Stand close to others
Slow, deliberate steps
Move quickly to somewhere warm
Sitting relaxed in a warm space

Actions and events

Start a fire or build a shelter
Winter hikes
Outdoor activities like skating, skiing, or sledding
Traffic jams or snowed in cars
Frozen lakes cracking underfoot
Dodging icicles falling from rooftops
Going ice-fishing
Long sea voyages
Suffering from a cold, the flu, or pneumonia
Brainfreeze
Snuggling under a warm duvet
Sipping from a steaming hot drink for comfort
Cold-water swimming
Walking to work in the rain
Christmas in the Northern Hemisphere
Chrismas in July in the Southern Hemisphere
Reading a good book by the fire while it snows outside

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Positive aspects.

While cold is often associated with negative emotions, using it as a juxtaposition can often help to accentuate the positive feelings you want to convey.

If it’s cold outside, a character enjoying a hot chocolate under their duvet will give a much more positive impression than if they were simply staying in bed.

The beauty of the natural world in winter, like snow, ice, and winter foliage can also be used to create a scene of happiness and wonder.

Negative aspects

Cold is often used to describe characters who are emotionally detached, calculating, or generally unfeeling. It’s become an easy way to clue your readers in to how they’re meant to feel about your character.

There are also more creative ways to use the cold, however, like describing the disappointment of forgetting about a hot drink you put down somewhere and only remembering when it’s already gone cold, or the feeling of shock after you first step out of a warm shower.

Helpful synonyms

refrigerated

Incorporating descriptions of the cold into your writing can create a vivid and immersive atmosphere for your story. Whether you’re trying to convey a sense of wonder and awe or a sense of fear and danger, these tips can help you bring your readers into your world. Create a layered and nuanced story that will captivate your audience by knowing how to write the cold.

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How To Describe Being Cold In Writing (11 Best Ways)

Introducing the art of describing the sensation of cold in writing is an exploration of the literary palette, where words transform into winter’s breath and emotions crystallize into frosty landscapes.

In the world of storytelling, mastering the art of conveying the palpable chill of a frigid day or the bone-deep shivers of a character is more than just a skill—it’s an invitation to immerse readers in a sensory journey that transcends the mere description of temperature.

This guide will navigate the evocative techniques, sensory-rich language, and narrative strategies that bring cold to life, not as a physical state, but as an emotional experience.

From the sensory details that make the reader shiver to the metaphors and symbolism that infuse cold with deeper meaning, this exploration of describing cold in writing is a gateway to crafting narratives that touch the heart and send a literary chill down the spine.

Table of Contents

How To Describe Being Cold In Writing

Describing the sensation of being cold in writing involves vividly portraying the physical and emotional aspects of feeling chilled. Here’s a step-by-step process to help you achieve that:

Choose the Right Words

Start by selecting the right words and phrases that can effectively convey the sensation of cold. Think about descriptive adjectives, adverbs, and metaphors that capture the feeling.

Set the Scene

Begin your description by setting the scene. Where are you? What’s the weather like? Is it indoors or outdoors? Is it day or night? The context can greatly enhance the reader’s understanding of your cold experience.

Physical Sensations

Describe the physical sensations of cold. Start with how the cold feels on your skin. Is it a biting cold, a sharp cold, or a dull, numbing cold? Mention the shivers running down your spine or the goosebumps on your arms. You can use similes or metaphors to enhance the description. For example, “The cold pierced my skin like a thousand icy needles.”

Body Reactions

Explain how your body is reacting to the cold. Are you hunching your shoulders, wrapping your arms around yourself, or rubbing your hands together for warmth? These actions help readers visualize the discomfort.

Mental and Emotional Impact

Describe how the cold is affecting you mentally and emotionally. Are you feeling a sense of isolation, vulnerability, or irritability due to the cold? Are you longing for warmth and comfort? Express these emotions to give depth to your description.

The Surroundings

Detail the impact of cold on the surroundings. Are there frost-covered windows, frozen landscapes, or people huddled together for warmth? Use these elements to create a vivid backdrop for your description.

Sounds and Sights

Include any sounds or sights associated with the cold. For instance, you might mention the sound of crunching snow underfoot, the sight of your breath condensing in the frigid air, or the distant howling of the wind.

Comparisons and Metaphors

Use comparisons and metaphors to make your description more evocative. You can liken the cold to various things, such as steel, ice, or a relentless enemy. These comparisons add depth to your portrayal.

Sensory Details

Incorporate sensory details beyond touch. Describe any smells or tastes associated with the cold, like the crisp, clean scent of winter air or the taste of snowflakes on your lips.

Show, Don’t Tell

Rather than simply stating “I am cold,” show your readers through your descriptions and the character’s actions how cold it is. Let them experience the cold alongside the character.

Edit and Revise

Finally, review your description and make necessary edits. Ensure that your writing flows smoothly and that your descriptions are vivid and evocative. Remove any redundancies or unnecessary details.

By following these steps, you can effectively describe the sensation of being cold in your writing , allowing your readers to feel and experience the chill along with your characters.

Understanding Cold

Understanding cold goes beyond simply feeling the chill on your skin; it’s an intricate dance of shivering nerves, winter’s breath biting at your very core, and the icy tendrils of loneliness that creep into your soul.

Cold is more than a thermometer’s reading; it’s an emotion, a visceral experience that forces us to confront our vulnerability.

It’s the slow unraveling of warmth and comfort, a stark reminder that the world can be harsh and unforgiving. To truly grasp cold is to understand the silent power it holds, the way it transforms landscapes and human interactions, and to appreciate the delicate beauty that emerges from its frozen embrace.

The Power of Imagery

The power of imagery is like a symphony for the senses, a tapestry of words that paints vivid landscapes in the theater of the mind.

It’s a portal to realms unknown, an invitation to feel the icy caress of a snowflake on your tongue, to hear the whispering secrets of ancient forests, and to smell the intoxicating aroma of a blooming rose.

Imagery isn’t just words on a page; it’s a journey, a magical incantation that transports us to distant galaxies, plunges us into the depths of emotion, and leaves an indelible mark on our souls.

It’s the literary sorcery that bridges the gap between writer and reader, turning mere text into a living, breathing, and ever-entrancing world of wonder.

The impact of descriptive language

The impact of descriptive language is nothing short of alchemy for storytelling. It wields the power to transform the mundane into the extraordinary, to conjure vivid worlds within the reader’s mind.

With each carefully chosen word and meticulously crafted phrase, descriptive language breathes life into characters, landscapes, and emotions.

It is the architect of atmosphere, casting a spell that immerses readers in the sights, sounds, and textures of a narrative.

Whether it’s the palpable tension in a suspenseful scene or the ethereal beauty of an idyllic setting, descriptive language is the enchanted key that unlocks the doors of imagination, leaving an indelible mark on the reader’s memory long after the book is closed.

Setting the Scene

Setting the scene is like wielding a brush on the canvas of storytelling, where each stroke of vivid description becomes a portal to an entirely new universe.

It’s the art of transporting readers to realms both real and fantastical, from the snow-kissed peaks of a hidden mountain village to the bustling streets of a cyberpunk metropolis.

With the careful selection of details and the mastery of mood, setting the scene can turn a mere backdrop into a pivotal character in the narrative, breathing life into its very essence.

It’s the stage where emotions and characters collide, where stories unfurl, and where readers are invited to traverse the boundaries of the ordinary and explore the extraordinary.

In the world of literature, setting the scene is the enchantment that makes the ordinary extraordinary, and the extraordinary, an unforgettable journey.

Choosing the appropriate setting for a cold description

Selecting the appropriate setting for a cold description is akin to choosing the perfect frame for a masterpiece; it enhances the impact of the narrative and evokes a specific emotional response.

Whether it’s a desolate, snow-covered wilderness where the biting cold is a formidable antagonist, an urban landscape shrouded in mist and mystery, or the confined, unheated room of a character in turmoil, the setting plays a pivotal role.

It provides context, depth, and atmosphere to the description of cold, setting the stage for readers to shiver in the frigid winds, or empathize with a character’s struggle to keep warm.

The right setting becomes an immersive gateway, drawing readers into the heart of the narrative’s icy embrace, making the experience of cold not only sensory but also deeply emotional.

Using the Five Senses

Using the five senses in writing is akin to orchestrating a symphony of sensations, a literary kaleidoscope that transforms words into a multisensory experience.

It’s the sizzle of bacon in a quiet kitchen, the fragrant nostalgia of a loved one’s perfume, the silkiness of moonlight on a calm sea, the whispered secrets of an ancient forest, and the hushed crunch of leaves underfoot on an autumn afternoon.

This intricate tapestry of sensory input transcends the boundaries of mere words on a page, enabling readers to taste, touch, hear, smell, and see the narrative’s world with astonishing clarity.

By harnessing the power of the senses, writers not only describe but also teleport readers into the very heart of the story , inviting them to partake in a multisensory voyage of imagination, where every word becomes a brushstroke on the canvas of their minds.

Describing the visual aspects of cold

Describing the visual aspects of cold is like painting a mesmerizing portrait in shades of frost and snow, a visual poetry that enchants the reader’s mind.

It’s the ethereal elegance of snowflakes falling from a leaden sky, each one a unique crystalline masterpiece. It’s the stark, barren beauty of a world blanketed in a pristine white shroud, where the landscape becomes a canvas for nature’s frosty artistry.

It’s the silvery moonlight casting long, haunting shadows on a frozen lake, or the twinkling stars that pierce the clear, cold night like diamonds in a black velvet sky.

The visual description of cold is a symphony of icy hues and stark contrasts, where writers transport readers into a wintry dreamscape, where the chill is not just felt, but seen in the breathtaking, frozen tableau of their imagination.

Metaphorical Language

Metaphorical language is the alchemist’s stone of storytelling, a magical elixir that transmutes the ordinary into the extraordinary.

It’s the thread that weaves the fabric of imagination, the spark that ignites dormant emotions, and the bridge that connects the known to the uncharted.

Metaphors and similes are the constellations in the writer’s night sky, guiding readers on a celestial journey through the unfamiliar.

They transform the mundane into the mystical, likening the heart to a fragile glass ornament or a smile to a sunbeam in the rain.

In the world of metaphors, words become brushstrokes, painting vivid mental images that linger long after the pages have turned.

It is the language of resonance, where an author’s deepest sentiments are crystallized, offering readers a new lens through which to perceive the world, a captivating mirror that reflects the human experience in a kaleidoscope of boundless, imaginative beauty.

Using metaphors and similes

Using metaphors and similes in writing is akin to sprinkling stardust over the mundane, transforming the ordinary into a mesmerizing tapestry of imagery.

Metaphors are the hidden doors to the imagination, inviting readers to see, feel, and understand concepts in new and unexpected ways.

They infuse language with emotion, making abstract ideas tangible and relatable. Similes, on the other hand, are the connectors, likening one thing to another with grace and precision, fostering a deeper connection between the reader and the narrative.

These literary devices breathe life into descriptions, making the reader’s experience richer and more immersive.

A well-crafted metaphor or simile is not just a tool; it’s a brushstroke that paints vibrant, evocative pictures in the reader’s mind, making the written word a work of art that transcends the page.

Emotional Impact

The emotional impact in writing is like a thunderclap in a quiet room, a resonating chord that reverberates through the soul.

It’s the pulse of human connection in a world of words, the electricity that surges through characters and storylines, sparking a symphony of feelings in the reader’s heart.

A masterful narrative doesn’t just tell a story; it crafts an emotional journey, leaving readers breathless with anticipation, shedding tears of empathy, or bursting with joy.

It’s the silent nod of recognition, the shared heartbeat with a protagonist, or the collective gasp of revelation. The emotional impact transcends the page, weaving an invisible bond between author and reader, uniting hearts across time and space, and leaving an indelible imprint on the human experience, one word at a time.

Eliciting reader empathy

Eliciting reader empathy is the author’s alchemy, a subtle and yet profoundly powerful act of transference. It’s the moment when words on a page metamorphose into shared emotions and the reader’s heart resonates in harmony with the characters’ joys and sorrows.

It’s the gentle whisper of understanding that weaves a connection, drawing readers into the lives of fictional individuals as if they were old friends.

To master this art is to craft characters whose experiences mirror the reader’s own, to convey struggles, dreams, and vulnerabilities that echo universal truths.

Through skillful storytelling, the reader not only observes but becomes a participant in the narrative, forging a bond that transcends the boundaries of fiction, touching the deepest recesses of the human heart, and leaving an indelible impression on the soul.

Narrative Techniques

Narrative techniques are the sorcery of storytelling, a secret language spoken by authors who are both magicians and architects of worlds.

They are the enchanted tools that build the scaffolding of imagination, the alchemical ingredients that turn mere words into entire universes.

From the deft brushstrokes of vivid description to the subtle strokes of character development, narrative techniques are the symphony’s notes that transport readers through time and space.

They are the compass and the lighthouse, guiding readers through the labyrinth of a story, unveiling its secrets and unveiling the layers of meaning within.

In the hands of a skilled author, narrative techniques transform storytelling into a captivating dance of words, a mesmerizing tapestry of emotions, and a portal to worlds uncharted.

First-person vs. third-person perspective

First-person and third-person perspectives are the twin lenses through which we peer into the worlds of literature, each offering a unique vantage point to the reader.

First-person narration is an intimate journey, taking us by the hand and leading us directly into the protagonist’s mind and heart.

It’s a direct route to empathy, allowing us to experience the story through their eyes, thoughts, and emotions. Third-person, on the other hand, is the observant storyteller, affording us a broader view that encompasses multiple characters and perspectives.

It’s like soaring above the landscape, where we can witness the unfolding drama from a more detached yet comprehensive standpoint.

The choice between these perspectives is a fundamental decision that shapes the narrative’s tone, intimacy, and the way readers engage with the story.

Whether it’s the personal intensity of first-person or the panoramic canvas of third-person, both perspectives offer a tantalizing glimpse into the human experience, proving that the art of storytelling is as diverse and ever-evolving as the stories themselves.

Literary Examples

Literary examples are the enchanted mirrors of the written world, each one a portal to a realm of infinite imagination and boundless emotion.

They are the whispers of the past and the echoes of the human experience, captured within the pages of books that have stood the test of time.

From the captivating reverie of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” to the chilling suspense of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart,” literary examples are the stepping stones on the river of storytelling, showing us the depth of the literary ocean.

They are not just stories; they are the moments when ink meets inspiration, and the words dance into life. Literary examples are timeless companions, offering solace, wisdom, and dreams to every reader who dares to embark on their luminous journey through the boundless cosmos of human creativity.

Analyzing excerpts from renowned authors

Analyzing excerpts from renowned authors is like delving into the treasure troves of literary history, each passage a key to understanding the brilliance and craftsmanship of the masters.

It’s a journey through the minds of writers who have left an indelible mark on the world of letters, where every word and punctuation mark is a deliberate stroke on the canvas of human thought.

From the introspective depths of Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs. Dalloway” to the soaring prose of Gabriel García Márquez’s “One Hundred Years of Solitude,” these excerpts are gateways to the hearts of characters and the souls of settings.

They are not just sentences; they are lessons in narrative power, character development, and the art of storytelling itself.

Analyzing these excerpts is an invitation to explore the intricate techniques, themes, and emotions that have made these authors immortal, offering us a glimpse of the magic that lies behind the creation of literary masterpieces.

Exercises and Practice

Exercises and practice are the writer’s chisel and canvas, the sacred space where the craft of storytelling is meticulously honed and transformed into a work of art.

They are the playground where creativity roams free, the proving grounds where ideas evolve into prose. Just as an athlete refines their skills through rigorous training, writers sculpt their narratives through diligent exercises and unceasing practice.

It’s the laboratory where words are mixed and reactions are observed, a dance floor where characters twirl and settings come to life.

Exercises and practice are not mere rehearsal; they are the vibrant heartbeat of the creative process, offering the chance to explore, experiment, and evolve.

They are the sculptor’s tools, the painter’s palette, and the writer’s inkwell, where every stroke and word births a story, and every story, a world of enchantment.

Writing prompts for describing cold

Writing prompts for describing cold are like ice-cold keys that unlock the frozen realms of creativity. They are the whisper of winter’s secrets, beckoning writers to embark on a poetic journey through landscapes draped in frost or to delve into the depths of a character’s shivering solitude.

These prompts challenge writers to summon the biting winds, icy crystals, and bone-chilling sensations that make descriptions of cold come alive.

Whether it’s crafting a scene in an Arctic expedition or evoking the warmth of a crackling fire on a frigid night, these prompts are the catalysts that ignite the imagination.

They invite writers to explore the myriad facets of cold, turning the challenge of describing it into an opportunity to weave sensory-rich tapestries that send shivers down the spine and create an indelible mark on the reader’s soul.

Frequently Asked Questions about How to Describe Being Cold in Writing

Why is it important to describe being cold in writing.

Describing cold in writing adds depth and immersion to your narratives. It helps readers connect with characters, setting, and emotions, enhancing the overall reading experience.

How can I effectively convey the sensation of cold through words?

You can do this by choosing descriptive adjectives and metaphors, focusing on physical sensations, body reactions, emotions, and sensory details. Engage all the senses in your description.

What are some descriptive words and phrases to describe cold in writing?

Words like “bone-chilling,” “frosty,” “numbing,” and phrases such as “like a frigid embrace” or “cutting through like icy blades” can be used to describe cold effectively.

How do I create a vivid cold-related setting in my writing?

You can set the scene by describing the weather, location, and time of day, and by incorporating details like frost-covered windows, frozen landscapes, and huddled individuals seeking warmth.

What emotional impact can cold have on characters in my writing?

Cold can evoke emotions like isolation, vulnerability, irritability, and a longing for warmth. It can also symbolize hardship and challenge.

Can you provide examples of metaphors or similes to describe cold?

Certainly! You can use metaphors like “the cold was a relentless enemy” or similes like “the cold pierced like a thousand icy needles.”

How do I engage the reader’s senses when describing cold in my writing?

Engage multiple senses by describing sounds (e.g., crunching snow), sights (e.g., condensing breath), smells (e.g., crisp winter air), and even tastes (e.g., snowflakes on lips).

Should I simply state “I am cold” or show it through actions and descriptions?

Showing is more effective than telling. Instead of stating, use actions, thoughts, and descriptions to let the reader experience the cold alongside the character.

Can you provide tips for avoiding clichés when describing cold?

Avoid clichés like “cold as ice” and strive for originality. Focus on unique comparisons and sensory details to create a fresh portrayal of cold.

How can I make my cold descriptions more immersive and vivid?

To enhance immersion, use a combination of sensory details, metaphors, and character reactions. Experiment with different approaches to find what works best for your story.

What are some common mistakes to avoid when describing cold in writing?

Common mistakes include overusing clichés, providing too much detail, or not engaging the reader’s emotions. Balance is key to an effective description.

Any recommendations for getting feedback on my cold descriptions?

Share your writing with others, whether it’s through critique groups, beta readers, or writing workshops. Feedback from others can help you refine your descriptions.

Can I use descriptive techniques for warmth and cold in the same scene?

Yes, contrasting warmth and cold in the same scene can create a powerful emotional impact. It can emphasize comfort, struggle, or transition.

How do I make cold descriptions relevant to my story’s plot and themes?

Consider how the sensation of cold aligns with your story’s themes or character development. Use cold descriptions to symbolize challenges, transformation, or character growth.

In conclusion, the art of describing being cold in writing is a skill that allows authors to transcend the limitations of words, to evoke vivid and immersive experiences for their readers.

By carefully selecting descriptive language, engaging the senses, and incorporating character reactions and emotions, writers can effectively convey the chilling sensation of cold.

Whether it’s the numbing bite of winter’s embrace, the sight of frost-covered landscapes, or the emotional isolation that cold can symbolize, the power of well-crafted descriptions transports readers into the heart of the narrative.

Balancing creativity with authenticity, avoiding clichés, and seeking feedback from peers are all part of the process in mastering this art.

Ultimately, the ability to describe being cold in writing not only enhances the reader’s connection with the story but also underscores the writer’s craft in painting a rich, multidimensional literary canvas.

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400+ Ways to Describe Temperature: A Word List for Writers

Temperature Embodies More Than Heat and Cold

Applied effectively in prose or poetry, heat or lack of it can express subtleties of emotion, hence terms such as hot-tempered and cold-hearted .

Ambient temperature affects sleep patterns, productivity, and emotions.

Excessive heat irritates tempers. Your characters might quarrel without realizing they’re responding to the environment. Or your protagonists could blame their bad mood, blushing , or sweating on temperature while hiding the true reasons for their behavior.

Cold surroundings can draw people together to share body heat. Men have exploited this fact for centuries to entice women into their arms.

Temperature may indicate good or ill health, pleasant or unpleasant weather, good or bad omens.

People expect certain types of food, such as soup, to be hot. Serve a guest cold gazpacho, and you might expect a surprised reaction.

Hot liquids stain more readily than their cold counterparts. Story fodder? Perhaps your protagonist deliberately spills hot coffee into someone’s lap to spur the removal of pants or skirt?

Young women who are not ready to get pregnant sometimes have their eggs frozen in order to bear children later in life. What would happen if one of these women met a sperm donor at a reproduction clinic and they started dating?

Although today’s technology can’t reanimate corpses, some people choose to have their bodies vitrified and cryogenically preserved after death in hopes that future scientists will be able to revive them.

A chase through the hot desert will require different props and plotlines than a similar event at the South Pole.

Heat sterilizes objects and food. Freezing doesn’t. That’s why frozen corpses of animals and humans can endanger modern generations: They harbor microorganisms that could be dangerous to a non-immune population.

Someone trying to save money might turn the heat down in the winter; likewise with air conditioning during summer months. This could cause complications with health, pets, and houseplants.

Incinerators burn confidential documents. “Oops! I swear, boss, Findlay tripped when he was disposing of the top-secret files. The burns on my hands ? I … uh … tried to rescue him. Yeah, that’s it. I tried to rescue him.”

Story Prompts Ahead

Some of the preceding paragraphs may have given you ideas for stories or plot twists. Please enjoy a few more.

A patient’s temperature reads several degrees lower than usual.
Wife repeatedly turns the heat down. Husband turns it back up.
Thirteen months of stifling summer weather stumps scientists.
Bears decide to hibernate three months early.
A three-acre patch of ice forms in the Bay of Bengal.
A pendant grows warm whenever anyone nearby tells a lie.
A talking refrigerator develops a personality.

The following lists contain more than 400 words that will help you include temperature in your writing.

Hot Adjectives

A to F ablaze, afire, aflame, Africa-hot, baking, blazing, blistering, boiling, branding, broiling, burning, charring, extreme, febrile, fevered, feverish, feverous, fiery, flaming

H to R hyper-heated, hyper-hot, hyperthermic, intense, melting, molten, muggy, oppressive, overheated, parching, piping, poker-hot, roasting

S to W scalding, scorching, searing, shriveling, singeing, sizzling, smoking, smoldering, steaming, stifling, sultry, sweaty, sweltering, torrid, tropical, withering

A to E ash, asphalt, barbecue, blast furnace, blaze, bonfire, coffee, conflagration, cooking oil, desert, dragon’s breath , ember, exhaust pipe, exploding meteor

F to I fever, fire, firecracker, fireplace, fireworks, French fries, frying pan, furnace, geyser, glue gun, Hades, Hell, incalescence, infected wound, inferno, incinerator, iron

K to R kiln, magma, mineral spring, molten lava, molten metal, pavement, radiator, rocket exhaust

S to W sidewalk, solar flare, soldering iron, soup, stage lights, steam bath, stove burner, summer sun , tin roof, volcano, wok

A to C arc, autoclave, bake, barbecue, blaze, blister, boil, braise, brand, broil, brown, bubble, burn, burst into flames, carbonize, catch fire, cauterize, char, commit arson, cook, cremate

D to I deep-fry, defrost, detonate, disinfect, explode, fan the flames, fire, flame, flare, flash, fry, fuel, glow, go off, go up in flames, grill, heat, ignite, immolate, incinerate

K to R kindle, light, liquefy, melt, microwave, nuke, overcook, overheat, pan-fry, parboil, perspire, poach, reduce to ashes, refry, reheat, rewarm, roast

S sanitize, sauté, scald, scorch, scramble, sear, set a match to, set alight, simmer, singe, smolder, solder, spark, steam, steam-clean, sterilize, stew, stir-fry, strike a match, sweat, swelter

T to Z thaw, toast, torch, warm, zap

Warm Adjectives

A to P agreeable, balmy, blood-warm, clement, comfortable, comfy, cozy, enjoyable, fair, fine, homey, lukewarm, mellow, mild, moderate, pleasant

R to W restful, room-temperature, slightly warm, snug, summery, temperate, tepid, toasty, warm, warmish

B to F baby toes, baby’s laugh, bathwater, breath, clothes from the dryer, cow manure, dog/cat vomit, dog/cat doo-doo, ear muffs, flannel, freshly baked bread/buns, freshly laid egg

G to M gloves, groin, handshake, hand warmers, happy book/movie, just-vacated seat, kiss, kitten, lover’s body/ smile , memory foam, milk before bed, mitts, mother’s smile

P to W parka, puppy, rope/rug burn, sunshine, sweater, welcome, wool socks

Empty list. If something is cold, you require a hot verb to warm it; if it’s hot, you need a cold verb to bring it to a warm state.

Cold Adjectives

A to C algid, Antarctic, Arctic, austere, benumbed, biting, bitter, bitterly cold, bleak, bone-chilling, bracing, brisk, brumal, chilly, congealed, cool, crisp, cryogenic

D to H desolate, drafty, dreary, exhilarating, extreme, freezing, fresh, frigid, frigorific, frore, frosty, frozen, gelid, glacial, harsh, hibernal, hiemal, hoary, hypothermic

I to P icebound, icebox, ice-capped, ice-cold, ice-kissed, icicled, icy-cold, icy, intense, invigorating, keen, nippy, numbed, numbing, penetrating, piercing, polar

R to W raw, refrigerated, rimy, severe, sharp, shivery, sleety, Siberian, snappy, snowy, stimulating, stinging, subzero, wintry

B to G banana split, blizzard, brain freeze, dark side of the moon, deep sea, dry ice, ex’s heart/scorn, father’s criticism, freezer, frozen fish, Fudgesicle, glacier

H to P hoarfrost, iceberg, ice chest, ice-cream cone, ice cube, igloo, liquid nitrogen, milk shake, North Pole, penguin, Plutonian crater/mountain, polar bear, popsicle

S to W sherbet, skating rink, ski hill, sled dog, snow angel, snowbank, snowflake, snowman, South Pole, winter, witch’s toe

A to H air-condition, bite, chill, congeal, cool, crystalize, deep-freeze, flash-freeze, freeze, frost, gel, glaciate, harden

I to P ice, ice over, ice up, infrigidate, jell, keep cold, lose heat, lower the temperature, preserve, put on ice

R to V refrigerate, rime, set, solidify, sting, turn to ice, vitrify

Other Adjectives

A to C abnormal, above-zero, absolute, adiabatic, air, ambient, annual, atmospheric, average, axillary (armpit), basal, below-zero, body, calescent, Celsius, critical

D to I daily, daytime, decalescent, diurnal, elevated, environmental, external, extreme, Fahrenheit, favorable, fixed, global, high, ideal, indoor, inside, internal

L to P low, maximum, mean, metabolic, minimum, minus, moderate, monthly, ocean, optimum, oral (mouth), outdoor, outside, oven, overall, peak, plus, preferred

R to S raised, recalescent, recommended, recorded, rectal, reduced, regulated, relative, requisite, room, seasonal, soil, stable, standard, static, subnormal, substrate, surface

T to Y temporal (forehead), thermodynamic, thermogenic, tympanic (ear), underground, uniform, volatile, water, yearly

Other Nouns

H to T homeostasis, lyophilization, thermocline, thermocouple, thermogram, thermometer, thermoreceptor, thermoregulator, thermos, thermostat

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2 thoughts on “ 400+ Ways to Describe Temperature: A Word List for Writers ”

This helped me so much with my writing. I definitely will be turning to this gorgeous website more often for all my describing word needs.

Thanks, Lily!

How to Describe Snow in Writing (100+ Examples & Words)

Snow is a popular setting in many stories, essays, poems, and all kinds of writing.

Here is how to describe snow in writing:

Describe snow in writing by choosing specific words and phrases that evoke its unique characteristics: fluffy, sparkling, silent, cold, and transformative. Consider the type of snow, the time of day, the weather conditions, and the overall atmosphere you want to create.

In this article, you’ll learn everything you need to know about how to describe snow in writing.

11 Best Tips to Describe Snow in Writing (+ Examples)

People walking through the snow in a forest - How to describe snow in writing

Table of Contents

As we step out into the winter wonderland of words, let’s start with the best ways to describe snow in your stories.

1. Define Different Types of Snow

There are many different types of snow, each with its own unique characteristics. Here are a few examples:

Powder: Dry and fluffy snow, perfect for skiing and snowboarding.
Corn: Snow that has been melted and refrozen, creating a granular texture.
Crust: A hard layer of snow on top of a softer layer.
Drift: A large pile of snow that has been blown by the wind.
Sleet: A mix of snow and rain.
Graupel: Small, white pellets of snow that are formed when supercooled water droplets collide and freeze.

2. Describe the Texture of the Snow

The texture of snow can vary greatly depending on the type of snow, the temperature, and the wind conditions. Here are some examples of words to describe the texture of snow:

Fluffy: Light and airy, like a cloud.
Powdery: Fine and dry, like dust.
Crunchy: Hard and brittle, like ice.
Slushy: Wet and mushy, like melted ice cream.
Slick: Smooth and slippery, like a sheet of ice.

3. Describe the Color of the Snow

Snow is often described as white, but it can also take on other colors depending on the light and the environment. Here are some examples of words to describe the color of snow:

White: Bright and pure, like a blank canvas.
Gray: Dark and dirty, like a city sidewalk.
Blue: Cold and icy, like a glacier.
Yellow: Warm and sunny, like a winter sunrise.
Pink: Soft and delicate, like a rose petal.

4. Describe the Sound of the Snow

Snow can make a variety of sounds, depending on the conditions.

Here are some examples of words to describe the sound of snow:

Crunching: The sound of footsteps on fresh snow.
Hissing: The sound of wind blowing through the snow.
Rustling: The sound of leaves being blown by the wind.
Silence: The absence of sound, creating a peaceful atmosphere.
Muffled: The sound of voices being muffled by the snow.

5. Describe the Smell of the Snow

Snow can have a faint, clean smell, especially when it is fresh. Here are some examples of words to describe the smell of snow:

Clean: Fresh and pure, like a mountain stream.
Cold: Sharp and refreshing, like the air in a winter forest.
Earthy: Musky and rich, like the smell of soil.
Dry: Dusty and powdery, like the smell of a desert.
Metallic: Sharp and metallic, like the smell of ice.

6. Describe the Movement of the Snow

Snow can move in a variety of ways, depending on the wind conditions.

Here are some examples of words to describe the movement of snow:

Falling: Descending gently from the sky.
Drifting: Blowing across the ground by the wind.
Whirling: Spinning in circles in the wind.
Swirling: Moving in a circular motion, like a blizzard.
Settling: Coming to rest on the ground.

7. Describe the Light on the Snow

The light on the snow can create a variety of visual effects. Here are some examples of words to describe the light on the snow:

Glistening: Sparkling and reflecting light, like diamonds.
Dazzling: Bright and blinding, like the sun on a winter day.
Soft: Gentle and diffused, like moonlight.
Shadowy: Dark and mysterious, like the woods on a winter night.
Eerie: Strange and otherworldly, like a snowy landscape in a horror movie.

8. Describe the Temperature of the Snow

Snow can range in temperature from very cold to slightly warmer.

Here are some examples of words to describe the temperature of snow:

Freezing: Cold enough to cause frostbite.
Chilling: Cold and uncomfortable.
Crisp: Cool and refreshing.
Invigorating: Exhilarating and stimulating.
Biting: Cold and sharp, like a winter wind.

9. Describe the Emotions Associated with Snow

Snow can evoke a variety of emotions, depending on the context.

Here are some examples of words to describe the emotions associated with snow:

Peacefulness: Calm and serene, like a winter wonderland.
Joy: Playful and happy, like children building snowmen.
Loneliness: Isolated and desolate, like a deserted snow-covered landscape.
Melancholy: Sad and introspective, like a lone figure walking through the snow.
Fear: Anxious and apprehensive, like being trapped in a blizzard.

10. Describe the Sensory Impact of Snow

Snow has a unique sensory impact that can be described using a variety of words and phrases.

Here are some examples:

The cold sting of snowflakes on your cheeks.
The soft crunch of your boots on fresh snow.
The muffled silence of a snow-covered landscape.
The blinding glare of the sun reflecting off the snow.
The sweet scent of pine trees in the winter air.

11. Describe the Transformative Power of Snow

Snow can transform a familiar landscape into a magical wonderland. Here are some examples of words and phrases to describe the transformative power of snow:

The world was blanketed in a pristine layer of white.
The trees were adorned with sparkling diamonds of ice.
The normally bustling city was eerily silent and serene.
The snow created a sense of peace and tranquility.
The world felt new and clean, as if it had been reborn.

Here is a video about how to describe a snowy day in writing:

50 Best Words for Describing Snow

Consider these words for describing snow in your writing:

Invigorating
Peacefulness
Tranquility

50 Best Phrases for Describing Snow

Read through these phrases and choose your favorites to describe snow:

A blanket of white
A winter wonderland
A crystalline carpet
A world transformed
A hush fell over the land
The air was crisp and clean
The sun glinted off the snow
The world was a silent symphony in white
The snow fell like a thousand tiny feathers
The snowdrifts piled high
The snowflakes danced in the wind
The snow-covered landscape sparkled like diamonds
The snow crunched underfoot
The snow was a canvas waiting for footprints
The snow muffled all sound
The snow was a reminder of the fleeting beauty of winter
The snow fell in gentle whispers
The snow was a cleansing force
The snow covered the world in a peaceful shroud
The snow was a testament to the power of nature
The snow was a blank slate waiting for stories to be written
The snow was a symbol of hope and renewal
The snow was a reminder to slow down and appreciate the simple things in life
The snow was a magical world waiting to be explored
The snow was a reminder that even the coldest winter eventually gives way to spring

3 Full Examples of How to Describe Snow in Different Genres

Now, let’s look at three full examples of how to describe snow in different kinds of stories.

Outside, the snow fell in thick, swirling flakes, muffling all sound and creating a world of hushed intimacy.

The soft glow of the streetlights cast long shadows on the snow-covered ground, and the only sound was the gentle crunch of our boots as we walked hand-in-hand. The air was crisp and clean, and the scent of pine trees filled the air. In this winter wonderland, surrounded by the beauty of the falling snow, I felt closer to her than ever before.

The first snowflake drifted down from the leaden sky, an icy harbinger of the blizzard to come. The air was thick with anticipation, and the silence was broken only by the occasional creak of the old house settling.

The snow began to fall in earnest, blanketing the world in a cold, white shroud. Visibility dropped to near zero, and the house was plunged into darkness. I huddled closer to the fire, the flames casting flickering shadows on the walls. The old house seemed to hold its breath, waiting for what the storm might bring.

The snow swirled around the ancient castle, obscuring its towers and ramparts in a swirling mist.

The wind howled like a banshee, tearing at the windows and doors. Inside the castle, the fire crackled in the hearth, casting long shadows on the stone walls. The king sat on his throne, his face grim and determined. He knew that the blizzard was not just weather; it was a portent of the dark forces that were gathering at the borders of his kingdom.

The snow continued to fall, a silent promise of the battles to come.

How to Write a Scene with Falling Snow

Setting a scene with falling snow can add a touch of magic and atmosphere to your writing.

Here are a few tips:

Use vivid verbs and sensory details to bring the scene to life. Describe the way the snow falls, the crunch of boots on fresh snow, the way the wind whips around.
Use the snow to create a mood. Is it a peaceful and serene snowfall, or a violent blizzard? The way you describe the snow can set the tone for the entire scene.
Use the snow to reveal something about the characters. How do they react to the snowfall? Are they excited and playful, or are they cold and miserable?
Don’t forget the contrast. The white snow can create a beautiful contrast against dark backgrounds, such as trees or buildings.

How to Describe a Blizzard

A blizzard is a powerful and dangerous storm, and it can be difficult to capture its full force in writing.

Use strong verbs and adjectives to describe the wind and the snow. The wind should howl and roar, the snow should swirl and whip.
Focus on the sensory details. Describe the way the wind sounds, the way the snow feels against your skin, the way the world looks completely white and obscured.
Use figurative language to create a sense of danger and chaos. Similes and metaphors can help to convey the power of the blizzard.
Show, don’t tell. Instead of simply saying that the blizzard was a powerful storm, describe the effects of the storm on the characters and their surroundings.

How to Write a Winter Wonderland

A winter wonderland is a magical place where the snow covers everything in white and creates a world of its own.

Here are a few tips for writing about a winter wonderland:

Focus on the beauty of the snow. Describe the way it glistens in the sunlight, the way it covers the trees in a white shroud, the way it creates a peaceful silence.
Use metaphors and similes to compare the snow to other things. Describe the snow as pure, as clean, as a blank canvas.
Don’t forget the other elements of winter. Include details about the cold air, the frost on the trees, the icicles hanging from the eaves.
Use the winter wonderland to set the mood for your story. Is it a peaceful and idyllic place, or is it a cold and lonely place? The way you describe the winter wonderland can affect how your readers feel about the story.

Final Thoughts: How to Describe Snow in Writing

So next time you see snow falling, take a moment to appreciate its beauty and transformative power.

It might just inspire you to write your own snow-bound story.

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How to write a descriptive essay | Example & tips

How to Write a Descriptive Essay | Example & Tips

Published on July 30, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on August 14, 2023.

A descriptive essay gives a vivid, detailed description of something—generally a place or object, but possibly something more abstract like an emotion. This type of essay , like the narrative essay , is more creative than most academic writing .

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Descriptive essay topics, tips for writing descriptively, descriptive essay example, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about descriptive essays.

When you are assigned a descriptive essay, you’ll normally be given a specific prompt or choice of prompts. They will often ask you to describe something from your own experience.

Describe a place you love to spend time in.
Describe an object that has sentimental value for you.

You might also be asked to describe something outside your own experience, in which case you’ll have to use your imagination.

Describe the experience of a soldier in the trenches of World War I.
Describe what it might be like to live on another planet.

Sometimes you’ll be asked to describe something more abstract, like an emotion.

If you’re not given a specific prompt, try to think of something you feel confident describing in detail. Think of objects and places you know well, that provoke specific feelings or sensations, and that you can describe in an interesting way.

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The key to writing an effective descriptive essay is to find ways of bringing your subject to life for the reader. You’re not limited to providing a literal description as you would be in more formal essay types.

Make use of figurative language, sensory details, and strong word choices to create a memorable description.

Use figurative language

Figurative language consists of devices like metaphor and simile that use words in non-literal ways to create a memorable effect. This is essential in a descriptive essay; it’s what gives your writing its creative edge and makes your description unique.

Take the following description of a park.

This tells us something about the place, but it’s a bit too literal and not likely to be memorable.

If we want to make the description more likely to stick in the reader’s mind, we can use some figurative language.

Here we have used a simile to compare the park to a face and the trees to facial hair. This is memorable because it’s not what the reader expects; it makes them look at the park from a different angle.

You don’t have to fill every sentence with figurative language, but using these devices in an original way at various points throughout your essay will keep the reader engaged and convey your unique perspective on your subject.

Use your senses

Another key aspect of descriptive writing is the use of sensory details. This means referring not only to what something looks like, but also to smell, sound, touch, and taste.

Obviously not all senses will apply to every subject, but it’s always a good idea to explore what’s interesting about your subject beyond just what it looks like.

Even when your subject is more abstract, you might find a way to incorporate the senses more metaphorically, as in this descriptive essay about fear.

Choose the right words

Writing descriptively involves choosing your words carefully. The use of effective adjectives is important, but so is your choice of adverbs , verbs , and even nouns.

It’s easy to end up using clichéd phrases—“cold as ice,” “free as a bird”—but try to reflect further and make more precise, original word choices. Clichés provide conventional ways of describing things, but they don’t tell the reader anything about your unique perspective on what you’re describing.

Try looking over your sentences to find places where a different word would convey your impression more precisely or vividly. Using a thesaurus can help you find alternative word choices.

My cat runs across the garden quickly and jumps onto the fence to watch it from above.
My cat crosses the garden nimbly and leaps onto the fence to survey it from above.

However, exercise care in your choices; don’t just look for the most impressive-looking synonym you can find for every word. Overuse of a thesaurus can result in ridiculous sentences like this one:

My feline perambulates the allotment proficiently and capers atop the palisade to regard it from aloft.

An example of a short descriptive essay, written in response to the prompt “Describe a place you love to spend time in,” is shown below.

Hover over different parts of the text to see how a descriptive essay works.

On Sunday afternoons I like to spend my time in the garden behind my house. The garden is narrow but long, a corridor of green extending from the back of the house, and I sit on a lawn chair at the far end to read and relax. I am in my small peaceful paradise: the shade of the tree, the feel of the grass on my feet, the gentle activity of the fish in the pond beside me.

My cat crosses the garden nimbly and leaps onto the fence to survey it from above. From his perch he can watch over his little kingdom and keep an eye on the neighbours. He does this until the barking of next door’s dog scares him from his post and he bolts for the cat flap to govern from the safety of the kitchen.

With that, I am left alone with the fish, whose whole world is the pond by my feet. The fish explore the pond every day as if for the first time, prodding and inspecting every stone. I sometimes feel the same about sitting here in the garden; I know the place better than anyone, but whenever I return I still feel compelled to pay attention to all its details and novelties—a new bird perched in the tree, the growth of the grass, and the movement of the insects it shelters…

Sitting out in the garden, I feel serene. I feel at home. And yet I always feel there is more to discover. The bounds of my garden may be small, but there is a whole world contained within it, and it is one I will never get tired of inhabiting.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

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The key difference is that a narrative essay is designed to tell a complete story, while a descriptive essay is meant to convey an intense description of a particular place, object, or concept.

Narrative and descriptive essays both allow you to write more personally and creatively than other kinds of essays , and similar writing skills can apply to both.

If you’re not given a specific prompt for your descriptive essay , think about places and objects you know well, that you can think of interesting ways to describe, or that have strong personal significance for you.

The best kind of object for a descriptive essay is one specific enough that you can describe its particular features in detail—don’t choose something too vague or general.

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Caulfield, J. (2023, August 14). How to Write a Descriptive Essay | Example & Tips. Scribbr. Retrieved June 7, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/academic-essay/descriptive-essay/

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3.5: Descriptive Essays

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Kathryn Crowther et al.
Georgia Perimeter College via GALILEO Open Learning Materials

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Writing a Description Essay

Choosing a subject is the first step in writing a description essay. Once you have chosen the person, place, or object you want to describe, your challenge is to write an effective thesis statement to guide your essay. The remainder of your essay describes your subject in a way that best expresses your thesis. Remember, you should have a strong sense of how you will organize your essay. Choose a strategy and stick to it. Every part of your essay should use vivid sensory details. The more you can appeal to your readers’ senses, the more they will be engaged in your essay. You can read two sample essays at the end of this section.

Sample Thesis Statement

Although Minnesota may seem drab and cold to outsiders, natives of the state find it a wonderful place to live.

We can see in this thesis statement that the writer will attempt to show the aspects of Minnesota that make it a great place to live. After detailing a thesis statement, you should come up with a list of sensory words that provide vivid detail and support the thesis. You may start by thinking about the five senses. How does your particular place look, smell, feel, taste, and sound like? How can you best describe these senses so the reader feels what you feel? By organizing the elements of descriptive language into easier to handle sections, like the five senses, you are able to more specifically engage in what elements of the description are most useful.

Order of Presentation

The writer in this case could choose to present the positive aspects of Minnesota in terms of the seasons and weather changes. The details could be presented linearly, starting with spring and going through the winter, highlighting the aspects of each season that most closely support the thesis, that Minnesota is a great place to live.

Prior to starting the essay, give some thought to the audience of your piece. Who is going to read the essay, and what effect would you like it to have upon the readers? An awareness of audience is important in choosing the level of formality you take with your writing. Knowing your audience will also help you distinguish which details to include throughout your essay. Assume that your audience knows very little or nothing about your subject matter, and include details that may seem obvious to you.

Example Audience: In this particular essay, the writer wants to show an outsider to the state why Minnesota natives are so happy to live there. The essay should help break down stereotypes for those outsiders about Minnesota’s cold weather and apparent drabness. Because the essay is designed for those who do not live in Minnesota, and maybe have never been there, it is important to include details about the state that may seem obvious to a native.

With the preparatory work complete, it is time now to begin writing your essay. Use your thesis statement to begin to construct an introductory paragraph. The introduction should set up the basis for your essay, and the thesis statement should state its purpose.

Example Introduction

Many who have not traveled to the state of Minnesota only hear of its cold weather and boring reputation. They are sure missing out on the great opportunities that Minnesota affords. Each season offers different senses that native Minnesotans and tourists know and love. Although Minnesota may seem drab and cold to outsiders, natives of the state find it a wonderful place to live.

With the introduction complete, it is time to start constructing the body paragraphs of your essay. Each body paragraph should have a central theme in itself, and that theme should be represented in a topic sentence. Consequently, each sentence of the paragraph should relate to and support the topic sentence. The body paragraphs are where the majority of the details should be given. When writing the first draft of your descriptive essay, include as many details as is reasonably possible. You can always eliminate the ones that do not serve the essay as well when you are revising your draft. In the case of the Minnesota nature essay, we have decided to set up the body paragraphs in terms of season, starting with spring.

Example Body Paragraph

Spring in Minnesota brings new life to the state after the long winter season. The rain washes the landscape clean, leaving its fresh aroma for all to enjoy. The flowers soak up the golden sun’s rays and begin to show their vibrant colors. The first birds can be seen and heard throughout the woods and fields, telling their stories in beautiful songs. The lakes begin to show their glossy finish as the ice melts away slowly under the heat of the season.

With the body paragraphs complete, it is time to bring the essay to a close with the conclusion. The conclusion should draw a conclusion based on what has been presented throughout the body of the essay. It needs to return to the thesis, but not in an overt way. The conclusion should give the reader a final sense of what the essay was meant to portray. Remember that there should not be any new material introduced in the conclusion, and the way it is worded should give the reader a sense of finality.

Example Conclusion

The variety of activities and distinct seasons found in Minnesota reveal diverse beauty of this state. As one considers the benefits of each season, it becomes clearer why so many native Minnesotans are content with their home state. Minnesota is truly a wonderful place to live.

With the essay complete, it is time to reread and revise your essay (also see revision sections of this textbook). Read your first draft and pinpoint all of the descriptor words you used. If possible, go back and add more after the ones you already used in the essay. If you can, read your essay aloud to a friend and have him/her tell you what images are vivid and what images need more development. Rework any images that are cloudy with more descriptions. Also, check to see if your descriptions have made use of all of the five senses: sound, smell, texture, sight, and taste. Repeat these steps as many times as necessary until you are happy with your product.

Sample Descriptive Essays

America's Pastime

As the sun hits my face and I breathe in the fresh air, I temporarily forget that I am at a sporting event. But, when I open my eyes and look around, I am reminded of all things American. From the national anthem to the international players on the field, all the sights and sounds of a baseball game come together like a slice of Americana pie.

First, the entrance turnstiles click and clank, and then a hallway of noise bombards me. All the fans’ voices coalesce in a chorus of sound, rising to a humming clamor. The occasional, “Programs, get your programs, here!” jumps out through the hum to get my attention. I navigate my way through the crowded walkways of the stadium, moving to the right of some people, and to the left of others, I eventually find the section number where my seat is located. As I approach my seat I hear the announcer’s voice echo around the ball park, “Attention fans. In honor of our country, please remove your caps for the singing of the national anthem.” His deep voice echoes around each angle of the park, and every word is heard again and again. The crowd sings and hums “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and I feel a surprising amount of national pride through the voices. I take my seat as the umpire shouts, “Play ball!” and the game begins.

In the fifth inning of the game, I decide to find a concessions stand. Few tastes are as American as hot dogs and soda pop, and they cannot be missed at a ball game. The smell of hot dogs carries through the park, down every aisle, and inside every concourse. They are always as unhealthy as possible, dripping in grease, while the buns are soft and always too small for the dog. The best way to wash down the Ball Park Frank is with a large soda pop, so I order both. Doing my best to balance the cold pop in one hand and the wrapped-up dog in the other, I find the nearest condiments stand to load up my hot dog. A dollop of bright green relish and chopped onions, along with two squirts of the ketchup and mustard complete the dog. As I continue the balancing act between the loaded hot dog and pop back to my seat, a cheering fan bumps into my pop hand. The pop splashes out of the cup and all over my shirt, leaving me drenched. I make direct eye contact with the man who bumped into me. He looks me in the eye, looks at my shirt, and tells me how sorry he is. I just shake my head and keep walking. “It’s all just part of the experience,” I tell myself.

Before I am able to get back to my seat, I hear the crack of a bat, followed by an uproar from the crowd. Everyone is standing, clapping, and cheering. I missed a home run. I find my aisle and ask everyone to excuse me as I slip past them to my seat. “Excuse me. Excuse me. Thank you. Thank you. Sorry,” is all I can say as I inch past each fan. Halfway to my seat I can hear discarded peanut shells crunch beneath my feet, and each step is marked with a pronounced crunch.

When I finally get to my seat I realize it is the start of the seventh inning stretch. I quickly eat my hot dog and wash it down with what is left of my soda pop. The organ starts playing and everyone begins to sing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” While singing the song, putting my arms around friends and family with me, I watch all the players taking the field. It is wonderful to see the overwhelming number of players on one team from around the world: Japan, the Dominican Republic, the United States, Canada, and Venezuela. I cannot help but feel a bit of national pride at this realization. Seeing the international representation on the field reminds me of the ways that Americans, though from many different backgrounds and places, still come together under common ideals. For these reasons and for the whole experience in general, going to a Major League Baseball game is the perfect way to glimpse a slice of Americana.

Student Essay

In the following student essay, notice how the writer uses sensory details to describe not only the visual appearance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s tomb, but also the experience of visiting such a historically significant and emotionally moving monument. Pay particular attention to the organization of the description; how does the author move us around the monument and describe its characteristics? Is it effective?

Professor Smith

English 1101

11 June 2014

The King’s Tomb

The water is always so beautiful, a hypnotic shade of baby blue, with a few autumn colored leaves floating in the ripples made by the wind. This isn’t a natural body of water. No wildlife swim in the shallow waves, but this water is as full of life as any ocean. In the middle of what is fittingly called the Reflecting Pool lies the closest thing African Americans have ever had to royalty. Here lie the remains of Dr. Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King.

Nestled between the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change and the original Ebenezer Baptist Church is a beautiful white marble monument, warmly bathed in the lights circling the tomb of our late civil rights leaders. Following Dr. King’s assassination in April 1968, he was first interred at South View Cemetery, a final resting place largely reserved for African Americans during that period. It took nearly a decade before he was exhumed and placed in the beautiful ivory stone structure that he now shares with his beloved wife Coretta. The tomb, erected in 1977, sits within the south end of the Reflecting Pool. Seemingly suspended on the bright blue water, the tomb displays scriptures that only capture a small portion of the legacy left by these great leaders. Engraved on Dr. King’s portion reads, “Free at last, Free at last, Thank God Almighty I’m free at last!” from his pivotal “I Have a Dream” speech given during the March on Washington in 1963. I can’t help but attempt to recite the mantra in my head with the same bravado and conviction as Dr. King had when he gave the speech over fifty years ago. While the saying is a beautiful incantation, fit for a King, the cost at which that freedom was attained is still heartbreaking.

In a scene reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet, Mrs. Coretta Scott King, who passed away in January 2006 after a prolonged illness, lies next to her slain husband. For a short period following her death Mrs. King was interred in a smaller yet equally beautiful tomb directly across from her late husband. Spectacular floral arrangements surrounded her tomb as scores of mourners came from afar to pay their respects to the First Lady of the Civil Rights Movement. In November 2006, she was laid to rest in a beautiful new tomb aside her husband. The words “And now abide Faith, Hope, Love, These Three, but the greatest of these is Love,” emblazon her final resting place. No truer instance could describe her legacy.

Auburn Avenue, shrouded in darkness, is void of people aside from the few vagrants that aimlessly roam the streets. Heat from the Eternal Flame warms my back as I stare off into space. The brilliant glow of the LED lights strategically placed around the tomb and the amber flicker of the Eternal Flame are the only lights that seem to suit this moment. Kneeling as if I’m preparing to pray, I take a moment to reflect. Through my clenched eyes I can hear the soft splashes of the water, the gas fueled roar of the Eternal Flame. The ambient noise of car horns, traffic and construction fade to nearly a whisper. I envision the March on Washington. I can feel the sting of water hoses pelting my black skin. I can hear the sharp sonics of police dogs barking. The feeling is overwhelming. My eyelashes clump together from the tears winning their battle against my eyelids. Nearby is a place of worship, a place where anyone can still feel the spirit of past congregations, a place where the walls hold almost as much history as any Smithsonian exhibit.

Just a few feet away sits the original Ebenezer Baptist Church, a beautiful, rustic old building left largely intact from the days of Atlanta’s past. Walking inside is like stepping into a time warp, instantly sending you to the heart of the Civil Rights Movement. With the exception of a few strategically placed speakers, the church is left in its pure form. Dr. King’s voice echoes through wooden pews playing his famous “Drum Major” speech, given during his final sermon at Ebenezer on February 4, 1968. With closed eyes, I have difficulty telling what era I am in. Given with almost Machiavellian prediction and passion, ten minutes engulfed with his powerful words makes me feel as though I’ve been baptized, born again.

Surrounded with reminders of our history’s darkest time, this place brings me peace. There’s an aura in this place. A powerful spirit that infiltrates my conscience with thoughts of struggle, loss and freedom. The reality of this place forces my mind to reevaluate my own mortality. Even with the knowledge of how Dr. King was vilified, degraded, and executed, his death serves as a shining beacon of light. A lone ray of sun through the seemingly endless cloud of racism and intolerance. Coretta’s grace, beauty and resilience in the face of unspeakable tragedy and injustice is incomparable. Her social work and philanthropy should be an influence to women of all walks of life.

The legacy that Dr. and Mrs. King leave behind is an unfulfilled one. Equality in America has improved since Dr. King’s assassination but his dream is still unrealized. There is turmoil within the King family regarding funding and management of the King Memorial, leaving the future of this serene place uncertain. Engraved on the Stone of Hope, a newly completed Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C., reads, “Out of the Mountain of Despair, a Stone of Hope.” Although we still have a mountain to climb, The King’s Tomb is surely my Stone of Hope.

External Links

Checklist of Things to Consider ( https://tinyurl.com/y7zegezs ) when writing a description.

Susan Berne visits New York and describes her impressions in " Where Nothing Says Everything " ( https://tinyurl.com/yboc9m9s ), also called "Ground Zero." Another link to the story is here ( https://tinyurl.com/y99fchlw ).

Contributors and Attributions

Adapted from Successful College Composition (Crowther et al.) . Sourced from LibreTexts , licensed under CC BY-NC-SA .

Adapted from Let's Get Writing (Browning, DeVries, Boylan, Kurtz and Burton) . Sourced from LibreTexts , licensed under CC BY-NC-SA .

Describe A Cold Winter Day | Essay

It was the month of December last year. It was the coldest day of the winter season. The sky was overcast with clouds and chilly winds were blowing. The temperature went down to minus zero degrees.

Everybody was shivering due to cold. Water froze in pipes. Nobody dared to peep out. Blankets and quilts gave no warmth. Then it rained heavily. The sun appeared in the afternoon but gave no comfort.

It was very dull I was at my house. My mother called me to leave the quilt and get ready to go out to buy some items in the market. Leaving the quilt was very difficult. However, I did it and put on my dress.

Outside it was extremely cold and foggy Nothing was visible clearly. Sunlight looked like a moonlight. With difficulty, I boarded a bus, but the driver also found it difficult to drive.

405 Words Essay on a Cold Winter Morning

It was the last week of December. The weather was extremely cold. One morning, I got up at four as usual and went out for a stroll. As I stepped out of the house, I began to shiver with cold. An extremely cold wind was blowing.

It was piercing. My hands and feet were benumbed with cold. My nose began to run and ears were as cold as ice. I was chilled to the marrow. My legs became stiff and cold. Not a bird chirped. The birds lay huddled together in their nests.

I ran for about a mile to make myself warm but all to no purpose. My feet were almost frozen. It was foggy and misty. Nothing was visible. The grass was covered with frost. Frost had killed all the flowers and vegetation. The trees stood naked. The temperature touched the freezing point.

I hastened home, took a cup of hot, steaming tea and covered myself with a quilt but I was still shivering with cold. My hands were almost paralyzed. I tried to shave but my fingers did not work. I sat near the fire. I warmed my hands for about half an hour. It was then that I was able to shave myself.

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Office-goers had a very hard time. They could not cycle. The steel handles of their cycles were colder than ice. An icy cold wind blew into their faces. They had put on woollen suits, pull-overs, over-coats, socks and gloves, yet they felt cold and uncomfortable.

The poor were the most hard hit. They were without woollen clothes. They had to work in the chilling cold. They shivered in the cold. Their teeth chattered. Their hands and feet were swoollen with cold.

Their miserable condition excited pity. Even the children who are full of the wine of life did not stir out. They covered themselves with quilts to keep themselves warm.

All of a sudden, the sky was overcast with clouds. Clouds began to thunder and lightning began to flash. It began to rain and hail. The ground was soon white with hail-stones.

The weather became intensely cold. All out-door activities were suspended. I sat by the fireplace and waited for the rain to cease. As soon as the rain stopped, I made for the school on my cycle. The biting cold wind made it difficult for me to keep good grip on the handle bar and maintain balance.

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Winter Season Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on winter season.

Winter is one of the most important seasons in India. It is a part of the four seasons that occur in India. Winters are the coolest season that starts from December and last till March. The peak time when winter is experienced the most in December and January. In India, winters hold great importance. In addition, the essence it has is admired by many people. Winters give you the time to indulge in various activities like snowball fighting, building snowmen, ice hockey and more. It is a great time for kids to enjoy their vacations and get cozy in their blankets.

Essence of Winter

During winters, schools usually take a break and close down. The days are shorter and the nights get longer. The chilly mornings give you a different sense altogether. Hot drinks like coffee, tea, and hot chocolate are enjoyed more during winters. The sun rises quite late and sometimes it does not.

Even when it does, it doesn’t get a bit hot. People long for a little sunshine as the cold weather sends chills down the spine. You see people on the roads burning woods and paper to get a little warmth. However, not many people prefer going out in winters. They like sitting by the fireplace or heater all day.

In the hilly areas, people experience snow during winters. They have to shovel it out of the way to make way for walking. The essence of winters is enhanced by Christmas as well. It sets the holiday mood for people and is admired all over the world.

But, there is also a downside of this season. The farmers, homeless people, and animals are most affected by this season. There is hardly any business in this season for farmers. Hundreds of homeless people die due to the harsh winters.

As the animals do not have proper shelter, they too lose their lives. In addition, many flights are also canceled during this season. Nonetheless, this does not make winter any less important. It is quite essential to maintain balance in the weather of our country.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Why I Love Winter?

I personally love winters. This season brings a lot of healthy fruits and vegetables. People get the chance to eat fresh grapes, apples, carrots, cauliflower, guava and more. Furthermore, so many beautiful flowers bloom during this season. These flowers include roses, dahlias and more. This makes winter even more beautiful than it already is.

Other than that, no lizards are to be found as they go in hibernation. This makes me very happy and lets me live fearlessly. Most importantly, winter mornings are the best part of this season for me. I like getting up early in winters and witnessing the morning dew on flowers. There is a different vibe altogether that comes with winters.

Also, our school organizes bonfire which is one of the most awaited events of the year.

In short, winter is as important as any other season. Sure, it may have its negative sides and positive sides, but that happens with every season. Winters helps you enjoy long morning walks and fresh air.

FAQ on Winter Season Essay

Q.1 Explain the essence of winter.

A.1 The essence of winter cannot be described in one word. It is the hot cup of coffee in the morning. It is the warmth you get from the fireplace. The fun of making a snowman is what forms the essence of winter.

Q.2 Why do people love winters?

A.2 People love winter because they like coolness. They love the absence of mosquitoes and lizards. Plus, the seasonal fruits and vegetables in winters are absolutely delicious.

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