🌦️ Weather trivia for kids

Every answer checked 31 October 2026. Free, no sign-up, nothing to download.

Weather questions for three ages, from NOAA and the National Weather Service: what fog really is and where to stand to see a rainbow, what causes the seasons and how long thunder takes to travel a mile, and the wind speed that makes a storm a hurricane.

🐣 Little round: ages 6–8 (grades K–2)

▶ Play it on this phone 🖨️ Print cards and answer sheets

1.Can it ever be too cold to snow?
- A yes, below zero
- B no
- C yes, at night
2.What do we call a hot spring that shoots water up into the air?
- A a geyser
- B a glacier
- C a waterfall
3.Sleet is rain that turns into what before it reaches the ground?
- A fog
- B snowflakes
- C ice pellets
4.What is the hot, melted rock under a volcano called?
- A clay
- B magma
- C sand
5.After fresh snow falls, how does it sound outside?
- A quieter
- B full of echoes
- C louder
6.What makes the sound of thunder?
- A strong wind
- B lightning
- C clouds bumping together
7.What are clouds made of?
- A bits of cotton
- B tiny water drops or ice
- C puffs of smoke
8.To see a rainbow, what needs to be behind you?
- A the Moon
- B the Sun
- C a dark cloud
9.What are hailstones made of?
- A ice
- B tiny rocks
- C salt
10.When water drops in a cloud get too heavy, what happens?
- A they fall as rain
- B they float into space
- C they turn into wind

🔑 Show the answers

B: no. It can be too warm to snow, but it can never be too cold. Source: National Snow and Ice Data Center
A: a geyser. Old Faithful in Yellowstone is one of the most famous geysers in the world. Source: National Park Service
C: ice pellets. That is how the National Weather Service describes sleet. Source: National Weather Service
B: magma. When magma comes out onto the ground, we call it lava. Source: National Park Service
A: quieter. Fresh snow soaks up sound waves, so the world goes hushed. Source: National Snow and Ice Data Center
B: lightning. Lightning heats the air so fast that the air bursts outward with a boom. Source: National Weather Service
B: tiny water drops or ice. Each cloud holds billions of drops so small that they float in the air. Source: NOAA NESDIS (SciJinks)
B: the Sun. Rainbows show up when sunlight shines into drops of water floating in the air. Source: NOAA NESDIS (SciJinks)
A: ice. Hail forms high up inside big thunderstorm clouds where it is very cold. Source: NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory
A: they fall as rain. Inside a cloud, tiny drops join together and grow bigger and bigger. Source: NOAA NESDIS (SciJinks)

🦊 Middle round: ages 9–11 (grades 3–5)

▶ Play it on this phone 🖨️ Print cards and answer sheets

1.A snowflake begins when a very cold water droplet freezes onto what?
- A a bubble of air
- B a speck of pollen or dust
- C a raindrop
2.Which became the world's first national park, in 1872?
- A Yellowstone
- B the Grand Canyon
- C Yosemite
3.Hurricanes form over what?
- A cold mountains
- B dry deserts
- C warm ocean water
4.Near Grand Canyon Village, about how deep is the canyon from rim to river?
- A about 100 feet
- B about one mile
- C about 10 miles
5.Rising water vapor cools and turns into the droplets that make clouds. What is this called?
- A condensation
- B evaporation
- C transpiration
6.What causes Earth's seasons?
- A the Moon blocking sunlight
- B Earth moving closer to the Sun
- C the tilt of Earth's axis
7.From an airplane, what shape can a whole rainbow be?
- A a straight line
- B a full circle
- C a square
8.Which rain is colder than 32°F but stays liquid until it hits something?
- A freezing rain
- B sleet
- C hail
9.Thin, wispy cirrus clouds are made mostly of what?
- A dust
- B ice crystals
- C raindrops
10.When the Sun heats a lake and its water turns into vapor, what is that called?
- A evaporation
- B precipitation
- C condensation

🔑 Show the answers

B: a speck of pollen or dust. The speck of pollen or dust is up in the sky, and the droplet is extremely cold. Source: NOAA
A: Yellowstone. Its geysers and hot springs were a big reason it was protected. Source: National Park Service
C: warm ocean water. Warm, moist air rising off the sea is the fuel that keeps a hurricane going. Source: NASA Space Place
B: about one mile. That is about 5,000 feet straight down from the South Rim. Source: National Park Service
A: condensation. You can see condensation when drops form on the outside of a cold glass. Source: NASA Science for Kids
C: the tilt of Earth's axis. Northern winter actually comes when Earth is closest to the Sun. Source: NASA Space Place
B: a full circle. From the ground, the land gets in the way, so we only see an arc. Source: NOAA NESDIS (SciJinks)
A: freezing rain. When its drops touch anything, they turn to ice at once. Source: National Snow and Ice Data Center
B: ice crystals. Cirrus clouds float very high up, where the air is freezing cold. Source: NOAA NESDIS (SciJinks)
A: evaporation. Water vapor is an invisible gas that rises into the air. Source: NASA Science for Kids

🦉 Big round: ages 12 and up (grades 6 and up)

▶ Play it on this phone 🖨️ Print cards and answer sheets

1.What is hoarfrost?
- A rain that freezes in the air
- B snow blown into drifts
- C ice crystals that grow right onto a cold surface
2.Which mountain's peak is the farthest from the center of the Earth?
- A Mount Everest
- B Mount Chimborazo
- C Mount Kilimanjaro
3.Earth's axis is tilted by about how many degrees?
- A about 5 degrees
- B about 23.5 degrees
- C about 45 degrees
4.Which is Earth's thickest layer, at about 2,900 kilometers?
- A the mantle
- B the inner core
- C the crust
5.Winds blowing in different directions or speeds at different heights are called what?
- A trade winds
- B the jet stream
- C wind shear
6.When water vapor changes straight into ice without becoming liquid, what is it called?
- A sublimation
- B condensation
- C deposition
7.People say 10 inches of snow melts into 1 inch of water. Is that always true?
- A no, it is always 5 inches
- B no, it changes from snow to snow
- C yes, every time
8.Officially, a blizzard has winds faster than what speed?
- A 35 miles per hour
- B 15 miles per hour
- C 75 miles per hour
9.When sunlight enters a raindrop, which color bends the most?
- A red
- B yellow
- C violet
10.Hurricanes north of the equator spin in which direction?
- A counterclockwise
- B clockwise
- C back and forth

🔑 Show the answers

C: ice crystals that grow right onto a cold surface. It forms when the surface is colder than the frost point of the air around it. Source: National Snow and Ice Data Center
B: Mount Chimborazo. Earth bulges at the equator, and Chimborazo sits just one degree south of it. Source: NOAA National Ocean Service
B: about 23.5 degrees. The Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn sit at 23.5 degrees for the same reason. Source: NOAA NESDIS (SciJinks)
A: the mantle. NASA compares the hot rock of the mantle to thick, slow-moving caramel. Source: NASA
C: wind shear. Wind shear helps set up the spinning air inside storms that can form tornadoes. Source: NOAA NESDIS (SciJinks)
C: deposition. Sublimation is the opposite, when ice turns straight into vapor. Source: NASA Science for Kids
B: no, it changes from snow to snow. Snow scientists say the ten-to-one rule is not always right: snow holds different amounts of water. Source: National Snow and Ice Data Center
A: 35 miles per hour. The snow must also cut how far you can see to under a quarter mile, for more than 3 hours. Source: National Snow and Ice Data Center
C: violet. Violet has the shortest wavelength of visible light, and red has the longest. Source: NOAA NESDIS (SciJinks)
A: counterclockwise. South of the equator they spin the other way, because of Earth's rotation. Source: NASA Space Place

For the host

On a stormy night, play the thunder question for real: count from the flash to the boom and divide by five.

Read each question and its three answers aloud, or press ▶ Play and Peabody reads them; a tap shows the answer, a line about it and where it comes from.
On a phone, pass it round: one question per team, a star for each right answer. On a laptop or a TV, press 📺 Big screen.
On paper, print the cards, one answer sheet per team and the key on its own page.

Where these questions come from

Each question was written by Peabody in its own words and checked against one page, named under its answer. The pages we used for these rounds:

More rounds

🎯 Make your own round 🌋 Planet Earth trivia for kids 🌊 Ocean trivia for kids 🔬 Science trivia for kids All trivia rounds