Type, not the sky

Weather characters

Unicode symbols and emoji that resemble weather, with code points and digital use.

A weather character is a letter in a font. It has a code point, an official Unicode name, and a picture that changes with the vendor’s emoji art. U+2600 is BLACK SUN WITH RAYS. U+1F327 is CLOUD WITH RAIN. Neither sentence is a forecast, and neither is a present-weather code. Phones file them under weather because the keyboard does. The World Weather Information Service does not. These pages show the character as text, so it can be copied, and a line drawing of our own so the page is not borrowing Apple’s or Google’s art. The drawing is not the character. The character is not the WMO symbol for the same idea. Where a meteorological page exists, it is linked from here and kept as the other system. Wind face is not a wind barb. The snowman is not a snow forecast. The umbrella is not rain. A snowflake is not a snow shower. A rainbow is not a forecast that the rain has stopped.

Copy the character if you need the character. Follow the link if you need the weather. The two requests are not the same, and the cabinet does not pretend that they are.

Start here. Cloud with rain. Cloud with rain is the character people paste when they mean a forecast, and the page refuses that shortcut.

1. 1
   
   Black sun with raysThe sun character U+2600. Not a clear-sky forecast, and not the alchemical sun.
2. 2
   
   Cloud characterThe cloud character U+2601. Not an overcast forecast and not a sky-cover circle.
3. 3
   
   UmbrellaThe umbrella character U+2602. A thing you carry, not a rain forecast.
4. 4
   
   Umbrella with rain dropsU+2614, an umbrella and drops. Not a WWIS rain icon, and not drizzle.
5. 5
   
   Sun behind cloudU+26C5 sun behind a cloud. Not the partly cloudy forecast, though it resembles one.
6. 6
   
   Thunder cloud and rainU+26C8, a cloud with thunder and rain in the name. Not a thunderstorm forecast icon.
7. 7
   
   SnowflakeU+2744 SNOWFLAKE, a dingbat. Not a snow forecast, and not a snow shower.
8. 8
   
   Cloud with rainU+1F327 CLOUD WITH RAIN. The character people paste instead of a forecast. It is still a character.
9. 9
   
   Cloud with snowU+1F328 CLOUD WITH SNOW. Not a snow forecast, and not a snow shower.
10. 10
    
    Cloud with lightningU+1F329, lightning and a cloud. Not a thunderstorm forecast, and not rain.
11. 11
    
    Tornado characterU+1F32A TORNADO. A character. Not a funnel-cloud report and not a warning polygon.
12. 12
    
    Fog characterU+1F32B FOG, the character. Not the fog forecast, and not mist.
13. 13
    
    RainbowU+1F308 RAINBOW. A character for a bow, not a forecast icon and not a rain report.
14. 14
    
    Wind faceU+1F32C WIND FACE. A face blowing wind. Not a wind barb and not a windy forecast icon.
15. 15
    
    SnowmanU+2603 SNOWMAN. A figure, not a snow forecast and not a snow shower.