What is the difference between climate and weather?

Weather is very dynamic and may change many times from day to day or from season to season. Changes in weather take place over a relatively short period of time, such as hours or days. A sudden thunderstorm, a blizzard or a hot day are all examples of weather.

Climate, in contrast, is historically very stable. It describes weather patterns of many years in a particular region. Climate change takes place over long periods of time, such as several years or decades. Some types of climate change occur over even longer periods — hundreds, thousands or even millions of years. In fact, the Great Ice Age is one example of a period of climatic change.

In this experiment you will investigate the difference between weather and climate by using a historical weather database. How are changes in weather and climate measured? By tracking changes in temperature from month to month and year to year, you can test for patterns in weather and climate. Which is the most dynamic? Which is the most stable?

Terms and concepts

To do this type of experiment, you should know what the following terms mean. Have an adult help you search the internet or take you to your local library to find out more!

• climate
• weather
• temperature
• season
• degrees Fahrenheit (°F)
• degrees Celsius (°C)
• weather station

Resources

• In this experiment, we will use a free online database to search for historical weather data. You can find almost any type of weather data at this site, including radar and satellite images, astronomical data and star charts, storm warnings, forecasts and more! Check it out:
  Staff. 2005. “Weather Underground.” The Weather Underground, Inc. Ann Arbor, MI. 12/13/05.
  https://www.wunderground.com
• When you hear a storm advisory on your TV or radio, it comes from the National Weather Service. The National Weather Service provides weather data and storm advisories for floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards and thunderstorms across the nation. See a real satellite image of weather over the United States or check out the NWS weather page just for kids:
  • Staff. 2005. “National Weather Service.” (NOAA) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Washington, D.C. 12/13/05.
    https://www.weather.gov/
  • Staff. n.d. “Owlie Skywarn.” (NOAA) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Washington, D.C. 4/12/18.
    https://www.weather.gov/owlie/
• Scholastic Books has a great website for kids with fun games and tutorials on weather. Read an interview with a real meteorologist, learn about climates, make your own weather tools or try your hand at forecasting the weather:
  Staff. 2005. Weather Watch. Scholastic Inc. New York, NY. 12/13/05.
  http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/wwatch/
• These three great books by Gail Gibbons are aimed at elementary school students learning about weather. Check them out from your library:
  • Gibbons, Gail. 1990. Weather Words and What They Mean. New York, NY, Holiday House.
  • Gibbons, Gail. 1987. Weather Forecasting. New York, NY: Atheneum.
  • Gibbons, Gail. 1995. The Reasons for Seasons. New York, NY: Holiday House.

Materials and equipment

• computer with internet connection
• pencil and paper for recording data

Experimental procedure

1. You will be using the internet to look up historical temperature data from your local area, so grab a pencil and paper to write down your data.

2. First, you need to decide which historical dates you will use. The database contains monthly averages for many localities back to the early 1900s. What dates you can pick will depend on how far back the available data goes for your city.

3. Choose a series of months and years to look up the average temperature recorded. Decide how you will organize and record your data in a table. For example:

Average Temperature for Each Calendar Month During the Years 2014-2025:

	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015	2014
Jan
Feb
March
April
May
June
July
Aug
Sept
Oct
Nov
Dec

4. Go to https://www.wunderground.com and search for your city.

5. Look for a “History” button on the page. This part of the site will let you look up historical weather data for certain dates. You can look up minimum, maximum and average temperatures for a day, week or month in a specific year.

6. Look up the first specific month on your data sheet (such as January 2025 from the table above). Ask an adult if you need help using the site. Write down the average temperature for that month on your data sheet and continue to collect data for each of the other months and years on your data sheet.

7. After you collect data from each month and year, you’ll be ready to make graphs and look for any trends. You will want to make at least two types of graphs. Choose a year, then graph the temperatures for each month of that year. Choose a month, then graph all of the temperatures for each year of data.

8. For a more advanced graph, you can make a summary graph of the monthly temperatures over a one-year cycle by superimposing the data for different years on the same graph.

9. Has the average temperature for your area decreased or increased over the years? Has the average temperature fluctuated or remained constant from month to month or year to year? Are there any recurring patterns or cycles? Do these changes reflect changes in weather or climate?

This activity is brought to you in partnership with Science Buddies. Find the original activity on the Science Buddies website.