What π©οΈ means
A thunderstorm: a cloud throwing lightning, with no rain drawn. The picture is the classic weather-chart storm cloud, the kind you see on a TV forecast or in a weather app, a dark cloud with a jagged yellow bolt under it. In a forecast it signals thunder and lightning; in a chat it describes what is happening outside the window: "π©οΈ no walk today", "the dog hates this π©οΈ".
The missing raindrops are a drawing choice, not a weather report. Real thunderstorms almost always bring rain, so π©οΈ does not mean a dry storm. It simply puts the lightning in the spotlight. Its sibling adds rain to the same cloud, and people use the two almost interchangeably, with π©οΈ leaning towards "thunder and lightning" and towards "storm and downpour".
The emoji dates from 2014, when Unicode absorbed the weather pictures from the old Webdings and Wingdings symbol fonts, which is why it shares a look with . Like the others in that set it was originally a plain text symbol, so on some older systems or in some fonts it appears as a small black-and-white glyph rather than a coloured picture.
What does it mean when someone sends π©οΈ?
Usually the weather; otherwise, trouble is brewing. Next to a time or a place it is a forecast or a report. Next to feelings, it borrows the old idea of a storm cloud over someone's head: "meeting with the landlord π©οΈ" means tension, "she walked in π©οΈ" means someone is furious, and a lone π©οΈ in reply to a question about how things went means it went badly.
It can also be bright rather than dark. A bolt of lightning stands for a sudden idea or a jolt of energy, so π©οΈ turns up around brainstorms, breakthroughs and electrifying news. Fans of sports teams nicknamed Lightning or Thunder wave it on match days too. In every case the words around it decide whether the storm is literal, angry or exciting.
Neutral and descriptive in weather talk; dramatic and a little theatrical when used for moods, never rude on its own.
Sent alone after someone shares news, it reads as "that's bad" rather than as a weather comment.
Part of the collection
What it means when someone sends it to you
5 readingsA forecast or weather report: thunderstorms expected or already overhead.
Don't confuse it with
4
Related characters
2
Combination ideas
6Worth knowing
- Lightning and thunder are one event seen and heard: the flash heats the air so fast that it explodes outward as sound, so the drawn bolt stands for both the light and the rumble.
- The emoji was born as a dingbat: the weather pictures in the Webdings and Wingdings fonts were added to Unicode in 2014, which is why π©οΈ has a plain black-and-white text form.
Questions people ask
4Does π©οΈ mean a storm without rain?
No. It shows lightning without drawing the rain, but real thunderstorms bring rain. Think of it as "thunder and lightning"; use if you want the downpour in the picture.
Is π©οΈ the same as ?
No. is a bare bolt that usually means electricity, power or speed. π©οΈ keeps the cloud, so it is about weather or a stormy situation, not a charger or a fast delivery.
Why does π©οΈ show as a small black-and-white symbol for me?
It began as a text symbol in an old font. If the app drops the hidden selector that asks for colour, or the device is old, you get the plain glyph. The meaning is the same.
What does π©οΈ mean about a person?
That they are angry, tense or in a dark mood, like the cartoon storm cloud over a character's head. It can also mean the atmosphere around them is about to blow up.
More like this
14
Collections with π©οΈ
10
How to type or find π©οΈ
- Also called
- lightning cloud Β· thunder cloud emoji Β· storm cloud
- Search it as
- lightning Β· thunder Β· thunderstorm Β· storm emoji Β· weather emoji
- Type it as
- :lightning:
- Around since
- 2014 Β· Emoji 0.7
- Shows up on
- Every phone Β· iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, Linux
:lightning:Common shortcode in Slack, GitHub, Discord, Mattermost and other chat apps; a few apps use a different name.🌩️Codes and encoding2 code points
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.