How word searches work
Weather vocabulary is unusually consonant-dense, which works in your favour here. BLIZZARD carries a double Z, DRIZZLE another, and SQUALL a Q — three letters that essentially never appear in random filler more than once or twice per grid.
That makes this one of the faster themes to clear if you hunt letters rather than words. Scan the grid for Z, Q and the double L in SQUALL first. Those three finds alone usually take a quarter of the list off the board within the first minute.
The grid regenerates every time you load the page, so the same theme never gives you the same arrangement twice. Words run in all eight directions including backwards and diagonally, and your fastest completion time for each grid size is saved in your browser.
The weather word list
| Word | Letters | Notable letters |
|---|---|---|
| THUNDER | 7 | common letters only |
| CYCLONE | 7 | Y |
| DRIZZLE | 7 | Z |
| MONSOON | 7 | common letters only |
| BLIZZARD | 8 | Z |
| HUMIDITY | 8 | Y |
| FORECAST | 8 | common letters only |
| OVERCAST | 8 | V |
| TORNADO | 7 | common letters only |
| HAILSTONE | 9 | common letters only |
| LIGHTNING | 9 | common letters only |
| SQUALL | 6 | Q |
| FROST | 5 | common letters only |
| GALE | 4 | common letters only |
How to find words faster
- Find the longest weather words first. HAILSTONE is the longest entry at 9 letters, and long words have far fewer possible placements than short ones. Clearing them early removes a disproportionate share of the grid.
- Target the uncommon letters in this list. The rare letters present here are Q, V, Y, Z. Each one appears only a handful of times in the random filler, so finding the letter usually hands you the word.
- Leave GALE until last. At 4 letters it is the shortest entry, which means it has the most possible positions on the grid and hides best. Short words are always the least efficient thing to hunt first.
- Read every candidate in both directions. Roughly half the placements in any grid are reversed. If an area looks empty, try reading it backwards before moving on.
Frequently asked questions
What weather words are hidden?
Fourteen terms covering storm types, precipitation, cloud and atmospheric conditions, from the everyday FROST and GALE through to MONSOON, CYCLONE and HAILSTONE.
Is this an easy theme?
It is one of the fastest, yes. Weather vocabulary is unusually consonant-dense: BLIZZARD and DRIZZLE both carry a double Z and SQUALL carries a Q, and none of those letters appear often in random filler.
What is the difference between a cyclone and a tornado?
A cyclone is a large rotating storm system that can span hundreds of miles. A tornado is a narrow, violently rotating column of air reaching from a thunderstorm to the ground. Both appear in this grid.