Ways to use this list
- Fantasy role-playing games: the game master spins at dawn of each in-game day. Press Winter for a mountain crossing, and a blizzard might force the party to shelter in a cave.
- Weather presenter role play: a child spins, stands by a classroom map and gives the forecast using words like "outbreaks of rain" and "clearing by evening".
- Story openings: spin before writing and let the weather set the mood. Fog suits a mystery, a heatwave a lazy holiday, a gale a shipwreck.
- Dress the teddy: for younger children, spin and choose clothes for a toy from a dressing-up box, such as wellies for heavy rain or a sun hat for a heatwave.
- Weather diary: spin a "forecast" each morning for a week, then write down what the sky really did and see how often the wheel got it right.
Press Spin the wheel, tap the game or press the Space bar. Change the list in the box as you
like: add your own, delete what doesn't suit you, or write *2 after an entry to give it double the
chance. The game buttons switch the same list to a duck race, hat, claw machine and more.
The full list (28 entries)
- Sunny
- Partly cloudy
- Overcast
- Sunshine and showers
- Drizzle
- Light rain
- Heavy rain
- Thunderstorm
- Hail
- Sleet
- Light snow
- Heavy snow
- Blizzard
- Freezing rain
- Frost
- Fog
- Mist
- Hazy
- Light breeze
- Strong wind
- Gale
- Heatwave
- Humid and muggy
- Dry and dusty
- Sandstorm
- Tornado
- Hurricane
- Cold snap
Questions people ask
Can I use this as a weather table for tabletop role-playing games?
Yes. Pick the season your adventure is in, and give common weather extra chances by typing *3 after it, such as "Overcast *3". Rare events like a tornado then stay rare, which feels far more believable over a long campaign.
What is the difference between sleet and hail?
In the UK, sleet means rain and snow falling together; in the US it means tiny ice pellets made when raindrops freeze on the way down. Hail is different: hard lumps of ice built up inside thunderstorm clouds, which is why it can fall even in summer.
How is fog different from mist?
Both are tiny water droplets hanging in the air near the ground. Weather forecasters call it fog when you cannot see further than 1 kilometre, and mist when you can see more than that. Thick fog can cut visibility to just a few metres.
When does a storm become a hurricane?
A tropical storm becomes a hurricane when its steady winds reach 74 mph (119 km/h). The same kind of storm is called a typhoon in the north-west Pacific and a cyclone around the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific.