You’re looking out a window in Madrid or maybe a cozy cabin in the Pyrenees. The flakes are starting to fall. You want to tell your friends, but your brain freezes. Is it está nevando? Or maybe hace nieve? People trip over this all the time. It’s snowing in Spanish, but the way we describe it isn't just a word-for-word swap from English. Language is weird like that.
Spanish weather expressions are a unique beast. In English, we use "it" as a dummy subject. "It is raining." "It is snowing." In Spanish, that "it" doesn't exist. You can't say ello está nevando. That sounds like a broken robot. Instead, the verb carries all the weight on its own. It’s actually pretty efficient once you get the hang of it.
The Most Common Way to Say It’s Snowing in Spanish
If you want to sound natural right now, the phrase you need is está nevando. This is the present continuous form. It uses the verb estar (to be) combined with the gerund of nevar (to snow).
It’s happening right now.
Nevar is a stem-changing verb. That’s the first hurdle. In the simple present tense, the "e" changes to an "ie." So, "it snows" becomes nieva. You wouldn't say neva. That sounds clunky and wrong to a native speaker's ear. If you’re checking a weather report and it says "It snows a lot in January," you’d see Nieva mucho en enero. Simple. Direct.
But honestly, most people just want to point at the sky and yell about the white stuff. For that, stick to está nevando.
Why the Verb Nevar is Tricky
Grammar geeks call nevar an impersonal verb. This basically means it doesn't have a "person" doing the action. You can't snow. I can't snow. Only the sky does it, so the verb is almost always used in the third-person singular.
You’ve got to watch that stem change.
- Present: Nieva
- Preterite (Past): Nevó (It snowed)
- Imperfect: Nevaba (It used to snow/it was snowing)
If you're in a place like the Sierra Nevada—which literally translates to "Snowy Mountain Range"—you’ll hear these variations constantly. People in Granada might say, "Ayer nevó en la sierra," meaning it snowed yesterday in the mountains. Notice the accent on the "o." Without it, you're saying something else entirely.
Regional Flavour: How People Actually Talk
Spain isn't Mexico. Argentina isn't Colombia. While está nevando is understood everywhere, the vibe changes.
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In some parts of the Andes, you might hear people describe the weather with more "color." They might talk about a nevada (a snowfall). Instead of just saying it’s snowing in Spanish, they might say está cayendo una nevada impresionante. This translates to "an impressive snowfall is falling." It adds weight to the statement. It makes it sound like a big event, which it usually is in places not named Ushuaia.
Then you have the slang. Or rather, the lack of it for snow. Since many Spanish-speaking countries are tropical, snow is a novelty. In places like Caribbean coastal towns, "snow" might only be something people see on TV. But in the southern cone—Chile and Argentina—snow is a way of life in the winter months of July and August.
There, you might hear about el polvo (powder) if you’re hanging out with skiers at Valle Nevado. It’s technical, but it’s how the language breathes in the real world.
The "Hace" vs "Está" Confusion
This is where beginners usually lose their minds. In Spanish, we use hace (from hacer, to make/do) for a lot of weather.
- Hace sol (It’s sunny)
- Hace frío (It’s cold)
- Hace viento (It’s windy)
So, logically, you’d think it’s hace nieve, right?
Wrong.
Never say hace nieve. It’s a total giveaway that you’re using Google Translate in your head. Snow and rain get their own verbs. You use está nevando or está lloviendo.
Why? Linguists argue it's because snow and rain are actions, while "cold" or "sun" are conditions or nouns that the day "makes." It’s a subtle distinction, but a huge one for fluency. If you say hace nieve, a Spaniard might smile politely, but they’ll know you’re struggling.
Real-World Examples of Usage
Let's look at how this actually pops up in conversation.
If you're texting a friend:
"¡Mira por la ventana! Está nevando." (Look out the window! It’s snowing.)
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If you're talking about a ski trip:
"El año pasado nevó muchísimo en Formigal." (Last year it snowed a ton in Formigal.)
If you're describing a dream:
"En mi sueño, nevaba café." (In my dream, it was snowing coffee.) This is actually a famous song lyric by Juan Luis Guerra, though he says "it rains coffee" (Ojalá que llueva café). The grammar remains the same.
Beyond the Basics: Related Snow Vocabulary
Knowing it’s snowing in Spanish is just the start. If you’re actually in the snow, you need the surrounding words.
- La nieve: The snow (the noun).
- El copo de nieve: The snowflake.
- Muñeco de nieve: Snowman (literally "doll of snow").
- Bola de nieve: Snowball.
- Hielo: Ice.
- Ventisca: Blizzard or snowstorm.
Interestingly, Spanish speakers often use the word nieve to describe "static" on a TV screen. If your signal is bad, you might say la tele tiene nieve. It’s a visual metaphor that works across cultures.
The Deep Grammar: Subjunctive and Future
What if you want to say, "I hope it snows"?
This is where the dreaded Subjunctive Mood enters. Because "hoping" is a desire and not a fact, the verb changes.
Espero que nieve. Wait, isn't nieva the present tense? Yes. But for the subjunctive, we swap the ending. If the verb ends in -ar, the subjunctive often ends in -e. So, nieve is the "hopeful" or "uncertain" version.
- Si nieva, no iremos. (If it snows, we won't go.)
- Dudo que nieve mañana. (I doubt it will snow tomorrow.)
The future tense is much easier. Nevará.
"According to the news, nevará esta noche." (It will snow tonight.) No stem changes, no weird swaps. Just add the "á" to the end of the infinitive.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
I’ve seen students try to use ser (to be) for weather. Es nevando.
This is a tragedy. Ser is for permanent characteristics. Unless the sky is permanently made of falling snow—which would be a terrifying meteorological event—never use ser.
Another one? Confusing nieve (snow) with niebla (fog).
They sound similar to a panicked student. But if you tell your boss you can't come to work because of the niebla, they’ll tell you to drive slowly. If you say nieve, they might tell you to grab a shovel.
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Cultural Context: Does it even snow in Spain?
A lot of people think of Spain as just beaches and sangria. They forget it's the second most mountainous country in Europe after Switzerland.
Madrid is the highest capital in the EU. It gets cold. In 2021, a storm called Filomena absolutely buried the city. People were skiing down the Gran Vía. During that time, the phrase está nevando was the only thing anyone was saying.
In the north, in places like Asturias or Cantabria, snow is a regular winter guest. The Picos de Europa are stunning under a white blanket. If you go there, you won't just hear the standard Spanish terms; you might hear local dialects or words influenced by Asturian, but está nevando will still be your golden ticket.
Actionable Steps for Learners
If you want to master this, stop thinking in English.
First, get comfortable with the verb nevar. Say it out loud. Nieva. Nevó. Nevaba. Second, watch a weather report from a Spanish news outlet like RTVE or CNN en Español. They use these terms in context with maps and visuals. It sticks better when you see a giant snowflake icon over the Pyrenees while the presenter says, "Se esperan fuertes nevadas."
Third, practice the "hace" vs "está" rule.
Make a mental list:
- Hace: Heat, Cold, Wind, Sun.
- Está: Snowing, Raining, Clouding over.
Basically, if it's falling from the sky, use está + the action. If it's just the vibe of the air, use hace.
Finally, don't be afraid to make mistakes. Native speakers know their weather verbs are weird. If you say hace nieve, they’ll correct you, you’ll feel a little silly for a second, and then you’ll never forget it again. That’s how language works. It’s messy, it’s cold, and sometimes it’s snowing in Spanish when you least expect it.
To really nail this down, try writing three sentences tonight about the weather. One for today, one for your childhood, and one for your dream vacation. Use está nevando, nevaba, and nieve in the subjunctive. It takes about two minutes, but it builds the muscle memory you need to stop translating and start speaking.
Check your local weather app and switch the language to Spanish. Seeing "Nieve" or "Nevadas ligeras" every morning on your lock screen is the easiest passive learning hack there is. You'll stop wondering what the word is and start just knowing it. In a week, you won't even have to think about the stem change. It’ll just be part of your vocabulary, sitting there ready for the next time the clouds turn gray.