Weather or climate?

Here's what W3NID has to say about "climate": [quote]

3 a : the average course or condition of the weather at a particular place over a period of many years as exhibited in absolute extremes, means, and frequencies of given departures from these means, of temperature, wind velocity, precipitation, and other weather elements b : the prevailing set of conditions (as of temperature, humidity, or freshness of atmosphere) in any place *the climate maintained inside our houses-- E. L. Ullman* *the climate in the vault has to be carefully controlled-- Joseph Wechsberg* [/quote]

Here's what W3NID has to say about "weather": [quote]

1 : state of the atmosphere at a definite time and place with respect to heat or cold, wetness or dryness, calm or storm, clearness or cloudiness : meteorological condition [/quote]

I'd ask about the weather if I wanted to know whether it was a hot place:

"What kind of weather does it have?" or "Does it have hot weather?"

I'd ask whether it's far enough south to have a tropical climate or an equatorial desert climate. That includes a lot more than just the weather.

The two words are related, but they aren't synonyms for me. The weather can be clear, but the climate can't. The climate is much more inclusive than the weather. A place can have a brief spell of tropical weather without having a tropical climate.

from alt.usage.english