Even though spring is technically here (well…in the Northern Hemisphere anyway!), that doesn’t mean that winter weather has said goodbye. Read on for seven useful winter weather phrases.

snowed in

This phrasal verb is used when you cannot leave (usually your house) because there has been too much snow.

We went on vacation in the mountains but we didn’t realize it was going to snow the whole weekend…we got snowed in! It was ok though; we watched lots of movies.

bundle up

This is another phrasal verb that is used when you put on warm clothes – like a jacket, hat, gloves, and a scarf – to go outside. (The verb “bundle” alone means “to tie or wrap things together.”)

It’s really cold outside! Be sure you bundle up!

shovel (a noun and a verb!)

Yes, “shovel” can be a noun and a verb!

Do you have a shovel? I need to shovel the driveway so we can pull the car out of the garage.

(snow) flurries

A “flurry” of something is a small swirling group – like a “flurry of wind.” But “snow flurries” are when it is snowing, but not extremely heavy. This is a generic term, often used by weather reporters, for “it’s snowing.”

The news says to expect snow flurries this weekend, but that it will only be an inch or two.

(to) lose power

In this expression, “power” means electricity. When the weather (or some other problem) causes the electricity to stop, we say that we have “lost power.”

We lost power three times during the snow storm. It took an entire day for the electric company to get it back on.

(to) stoke (a fire)

One of those English verbs that are soooo specific, “to stoke” is to add fuel to something or to otherwise get it to grow. “To stoke” is usually used with the noun “fire,” but “to be stoked” or “to get stoked” is a slang expression that means extremely excited.

We had to stoke the fire a lot or it would die in the windy weather.

wind chill

This expression refers to when the wind or other weather conditions make the temperature feel colder than it actually is.

It is going to be 10 degrees today, but with wind chill it will be below zero!

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