Smiley FacesWeather Emoji: Meanings, Names and Code Points
Weather emoji do two jobs: they describe the actual weather, and they describe how someone feels. A âī¸ can mean "it's a lovely day" or "I'm in a great mood"; a đ§ī¸ can mean rain or a gloomy week. Below is a guide to the main weather emoji, with their official names, code points and the Unicode version each was added in.
Sun and clouds
| Emoji | Official name | Code point | Unicode version |
|---|---|---|---|
| âī¸ | Sun | U+2600 | 1.1 (1993) |
| đ | Sun with Face | U+1F31E | 6.0 (2010) |
| đ¤ī¸ | Sun Behind Small Cloud | U+1F324 | 7.0 (2014) |
| â | Sun Behind Cloud | U+26C5 | 5.2 (2009) |
| đĨī¸ | Sun Behind Large Cloud | U+1F325 | 7.0 (2014) |
| âī¸ | Cloud | U+2601 | 1.1 (1993) |
The progression from âī¸ to âī¸ works like a cloud-cover scale, which is handy for quick forecasts: "Tomorrow: đ¤ī¸ then âī¸."
Beyond the forecast, âī¸ and đ are used for happiness, summer, holidays and "good morning". â is often used for "things are looking up", which is exactly the feeling of our animated sun-and-clouds smiley, a sun peeking out from behind a cloud.
Rain and storms
| Emoji | Official name | Code point | Unicode version |
|---|---|---|---|
| đĻī¸ | Sun Behind Rain Cloud | U+1F326 | 7.0 (2014) |
| đ§ī¸ | Cloud with Rain | U+1F327 | 7.0 (2014) |
| âī¸ | Cloud with Lightning and Rain | U+26C8 | 5.2 (2009) |
| đŠī¸ | Cloud with Lightning | U+1F329 | 7.0 (2014) |
| ⥠| High Voltage | U+26A1 | 4.0 (2003) |
| â | Umbrella with Rain Drops | U+2614 | 4.0 (2003) |
Rain emoji double as mood words. đ§ī¸ is a gloomy day in either sense, and âī¸ can stand for a stormy argument or a terrible week. ⥠is officially named "High Voltage", but it's used just as often for lightning, energy or speed.
Cold, wind and snow
| Emoji | Official name | Code point | Unicode version |
|---|---|---|---|
| âī¸ | Snowflake | U+2744 | 1.1 (1993) |
| âī¸ | Snowman | U+2603 | 1.1 (1993) |
| â | Snowman Without Snow | U+26C4 | 5.2 (2009) |
| đŦī¸ | Wind Face | U+1F32C | 7.0 (2014) |
| đĢī¸ | Fog | U+1F32B | 7.0 (2014) |
| đĒī¸ | Tornado | U+1F32A | 7.0 (2014) |
The two snowmen are a nice quirk: âī¸ Snowman is usually drawn with snow falling around it, while â Snowman Without Snow, as its name says, leaves the snowfall out. âī¸ is used for winter and holidays, and sometimes for someone being "cold" or aloof. đĒī¸ is a popular way to describe chaos, such as a messy house or a hectic day.
Rainbows, heat and temperature
- đ Rainbow (U+1F308, Unicode 6.0): hope after a hard time, good luck, or general joy. It is also widely used as a symbol of LGBTQ+ pride.
- đĄī¸ Thermometer (U+1F321, Unicode 7.0): temperature, fever or a heatwave.
- đĨĩ Hot Face (U+1F975, Unicode 11.0, 2018): too hot, flushed, or overwhelmed.
- đĨļ Cold Face (U+1F976, Unicode 11.0, 2018): freezing, or shocked into silence.
Why some weather emoji look like plain symbols
Characters such as â Sun, â Cloud and â Snowflake were in Unicode as ordinary text symbols long before emoji existed. On some systems they still appear as small black-and-white glyphs instead of colourful pictures. Adding an invisible character called Variation Selector-16 (U+FE0F) after them asks the device to show the colourful emoji version. Most emoji keyboards insert it for you, which is why âī¸ usually looks right when you pick it from the keyboard but may look plain if copied from older text.
Night and moon
When the weather talk turns to bedtime, the moon emoji take over, such as đ Crescent Moon (U+1F319, Unicode 6.0) and đ Night with Stars (U+1F303, Unicode 6.0). Our night smiley, in a nightcap with a crescent moon and drifting Zs, is ideal for signing off. For the full set of bedtime symbols, see sleep and goodnight emoji.
Using weather emoji well
A forecast in emoji is quick and fun: "Weekend: đ§ī¸đ§ī¸âī¸." For moods, a single weather emoji often says more than a sentence, like "Monday âī¸" after a rough start to the week. If you want a cheerful sign-off that moves, the basic smiley pairs nicely with a âī¸. For more on how emoji differ from typed and animated smileys, read smileys vs emoticons vs emoji.
