What does climate actually mean and how does it differ from weather?

The terms “climate” and “weather” are based on different time periods:

Climate describes the average state of the atmosphere in a particular place or area over a long period of time. The World Meteorological Organization recommends using an interval of at least 30 years for climate studies. However, observations over longer periods, such as centuries or millennia, are also common in climate research. Climate is determined by statistical properties of the atmosphere, including mean values, frequencies, and durations of meteorological variables, such as temperature or precipitation.

In contrast, the term “weather” refers to the physical state of the atmosphere at a particular location or area at a particular time or over a short period of time, ranging from hours to a few days. Simply put, weather is what we see when we look out the window. This state is described by meteorological variables that are regularly measured and recorded at meteorological stations and include air temperature, atmospheric pressure, wind speed and direction, humidity, cloud cover, and precipitation.