Learn Spanish with DANA Adam: Weather Changes

Key vocabulary

• danaf.

  isolated high-altitude low pressure (weather term)

  “La primera dana de la temporada se llama Adam.”— The first DANA of the season is called Adam.

  Pattern dana de gran impacto: high-impact DANA

  Compare gota fría: cold drop (a related weather phenomenon)

  Plural: danas

  💡 DANA is the acronym for Depresión Aislada en Niveles Altos (Isolated High-Level Depression), a common weather phenomenon in Spain.

• precipitaciónf.

  precipitation, rainfall

  “Habrá precipitaciones intensas en la costa.”— There will be intense rainfall on the coast.

  Pattern precipitaciones intensas: heavy rainfall

  Compare lluvia: rain

  Plural: precipitaciones

  💡 From the verb precipitar (to cause to fall); in weather contexts it specifically means precipitation.

• avisom.

  warning, notice

  “Aemet ha publicado varios avisos.”— Aemet has issued several warnings.

  Pattern avisos en vigor: warnings in effect

  Compare alerta: alert

  Plural: avisos

  💡 avisar is the verb 'to notify'; aviso is the noun, commonly used for weather warnings.

• inundaciónf.

  flood, flooding

  “Puede haber inundaciones locales en zonas bajas.”— There may be local flooding in low-lying areas.

  Pattern inundaciones locales: localized flooding

  Compare anegamiento: flooding

  Plural: inundaciones

  💡 From Latin inundare (to flood); inundar is the verb.

• chubascom.

  shower, downpour

  “Provocará chubascos muy fuertes y persistentes.”— It will cause very strong and persistent showers.

  Pattern chubascos fuertes: strong showers

  Compare chaparrón: downpour

  Plural: chubascos

  💡 chubasco refers to a short burst of heavy rain, often accompanied by strong wind.

• descensom.

  drop, decrease

  “Habrá un descenso generalizado de las temperaturas.”— There will be a widespread drop in temperatures.

  Pattern descenso de temperaturas: drop in temperatures

  Compare bajada: fall

  Plural: descensos

  💡 From the verb descender (to descend); the opposite is ascenso.

• litoralm.

  coastal area, coastline

  “Activa las alertas en el litoral mediterráneo.”— It activates alerts on the Mediterranean coast.

  Pattern litoral mediterráneo: Mediterranean coast

  Compare costa: coast

  Plural: litorales

  💡 litoral and costa both mean coast, but litoral is more formal.

• adversoadj.

  adverse, unfavorable

  “El domingo y el lunes son los días más adversos.”— Sunday and Monday are the most adverse days.

  Pattern días adversos: adverse days

  Compare desfavorable: unfavorable

  Feminine: adversa; plural: adversos/as

  💡 adverso is often used to describe weather or conditions, as in condiciones adversas.

• humedadf.

  humidity, moisture

  “La entrada de humedad dejará un ambiente nuboso.”— The influx of humidity will leave a cloudy atmosphere.

  Pattern entrada de humedad: inflow of moisture

  Compare vapor: water vapor

  Plural: humedades

  💡 From Latin humiditas; húmedo is the adjective 'humid'.

• normalizarv.

  to normalize, to return to normal

  “Normalizando así la situación para octubre.”— Thus normalizing the situation for October.

  Pattern normalizar la situación: to normalize the situation

  Compare regularizar: to regularize

  Conjugation: normalizo, normalizas, normaliza...

  💡 From normal ('normal'); the suffix -izar means 'to make'.

Grammar spotlight

Sentence patterns to steal

• Después de unos días casi de verano, el sábado y el domingo llegarán cambios bruscos en toda la Península.

  After a few almost summer-like days, abrupt changes will arrive across the entire Peninsula on Saturday and Sunday.

  Después de + noun/phrase, + future tense + changeYou can replace the weather phenomenon and time: Después de una semana soleada, mañana llegarán lluvias.

• Aemet recomienda consultar los avisos en vigor y seguir las recomendaciones de Protección Civil.

  Aemet recommends checking the warnings in force and following Civil Protection recommendations.

  recomendar + infinitive + y + infinitiveYou can replace the advice: recomienda llevar paraguas y evitar zonas inundables.

• Además, entrará una masa de aire más frío que dará lugar a un descenso generalizado de las temperaturas.

  In addition, a colder air mass will enter, leading to a widespread drop in temperatures.

  entrar + noun + que dará lugar a + resultYou can replace the weather phenomenon and result: entrará un frente que dará lugar a lluvias intensas.