Weather emoji meanings, from clear sky to storm
The sun-and-cloud emoji form a scale that mirrors a weather app: is a clear sky, mostly sunny, partly cloudy, mostly cloudy and overcast. Add rain and you get for sunny spells with showers, for steady rain, for lightning and for a full thunderstorm. is snowfall, the snowflake itself, fog and the wind blowing.
Some weather emoji carry a second meaning in chat. (officially high voltage) is used for speed and energy as often as for lightning; is also a pride symbol; says something is great, not only hot; and (cyclone) is a typhoon in a Japanese forecast but a dizzy, spinning feeling in a text.
Weather symbols you can paste as text
Not every app shows colour emoji, and some people prefer a cleaner look. The old text weather symbols still work almost everywhere: (sun with rays), cloud, umbrella, rain, lightning, thunderstorm, and snowflakes, a black snowman and a droplet. They take the colour of the surrounding text, which suits bios, captions and forecasts written in plain text.
Several characters exist in both styles. appear as flat symbols by default in many fonts and switch to colour emoji when followed by the invisible variation selector UFE0F ( ). Phones usually add it for you; if a copied sun looks black and white, that is the text version.
Temperature: degree symbol, and
For a forecast you also need temperatures. The degree sign is the one to use: type 21C or 70F. Unicode also has single characters and , mainly for compatibility with East Asian character sets, but the standard recommends the plain followed by the letter, which is what search engines and screen readers handle best.
Pair a number with , for a heat wave or for a cold snap and the message reads at a glance: 34 or 5 .
Rain, cloud and sun emoji aesthetic
Weather emoji are a favourite for moods and Instagram highlight covers. A rainy-day set ( ) signals a cosy mood; alone often reads as soft, dreamy or calm; and mean warmth and good energy, and the sun emoji from someone often means "you brighten my day". For highlights, a single symbol per cover such as , , or keeps the row tidy.
Dark weather works too: for a stormy mood, for feeling lost or unclear, for chaos in your week.
Symbols
59Click a symbol to copy it and open its page.
From sunny to stormy
the sky in order, ending with the rainbow
How to use them
5 situationsClick to copyWeather Emoji combos
12Worth knowing
- is officially just "snowman" and is drawn with falling snow on many platforms, which is why the later had to be named snowman without snow.
- were in Unicode 1.1 in 1993, long before emoji; the in-between skies arrived only in Unicode 7.0 (2014).
- (umbrella with rain drops) came from Japanese mobile emoji, where it was the standard "rain" icon in carrier weather forecasts.
- wind face echoes the puffing wind heads drawn in the corners of old maps.
Questions people ask
7How do I copy and paste weather emoji?
Tap or click any emoji or symbol on this page to copy it, then paste it into your message, caption or document. On a phone you can also find them in the emoji keyboard under Travel & Places, where the sky and weather emoji live.
What do the weather emoji mean?
sunny, mostly sunny, partly cloudy, mostly cloudy, cloudy, sun and showers, rain, thunderstorm, lightning, snow, fog, wind, tornado and rainbow. In chat they also describe mood: happy, sad, angry.
What does the cloud emoji mean from a girl or a guy?
usually means a soft, dreamy or calm mood, or "my head is in the clouds". With it turns sad; with it means daydreaming. It is rarely flirty on its own.
What does the sun emoji mean in a text?
or from someone usually means warmth and good vibes, often "good morning" or "you make my day better". Between friends it can simply mean the weather is great.
Is there a weather symbol for wind, fog and rain as text?
Yes. Use or for wind, for fog and for rain as emoji, or the text symbols (rain), (thunderstorm), (lightning), (snowflake) and (cloud) for a plain look.
How do I type the degree symbol for temperature?
Copy from this page and add C or F (21C, 70F). On Windows, Alt0176 types it; on a Mac, OptionShift8; on a phone, press and hold 0 on the number keyboard.
What are good rainy weather emoji combos?
Try for a cosy rainy day, for a gloomy thoughtful mood, for sun after the rain and for a storm.
