The difference between weather and climate is easy! Everyday when you climb out of bed, regardless of any morning routines you may have, you must plan your day around the weather. Rain or snow, hot or cold, humid or dry, your daily events will likely is affected by the current weather conditions. In fact, even with a five day forecast, you are likely to still look out the window to see what the weather is doing.
Therefore, Weather changes on a daily basis.
In general, if you live in Northern Canada, you’re wardrobe is likely not going to be full of beach attire for those warm spring days. Similarly, it is doubtful a store selling wool mittens and triple layer winter coats will make big business. Therefore, Climate is the trends in weather patterns over an extended period of time. Not days, or weeks, or months…but years.
Climate Data Comes From Weather Data
Scientists keep day-to-day weather statistics for 30 years in order to draw conclusions about local and regional climates. It is only when a location has 30 years of weather statistics that meteorologists can generalize and comment on the climate of a particular area. Overall then, the difference between weather and climate is time. Weather happens daily and climate happens over longer periods.
