German word of the day: Unwetter

Why do I need to know unwetter?

Unwetter is a word you're sure to come across at some point if you watch any kind of weather reports or read the weather forecasts in Germany, so it's a great one to have in your passive vocabulary at the very least. 

What does it mean?

Though it may just sound like the opposite of "weather", das Unwetter (pronounced like this) actually refers to a very specific type of weather event.

It can roughly be translated as a storm, but is generally used to describe more extreme weather that can cause damage to nature and property. 

The word comes from Middle High German, but it's unclear why the negation of 'un' is used to mean extreme or damaging. Perhaps this type of weather is considered so wild and unbridled that it seems to almost lie outside of the realm of normal possibilities and the ideas that the word 'weather' conjurs up.

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Either way, it's helpful to know that when extreme weather events happen in Germany, they will normally be preceded by an Unwetterwarnung - or severe weather warning - from the German Weather Service, or DWD. 

It's worth noting that this isn't much of a colloquial term, and can sometimes sound quite technical, so if you're among friends, you may well reach for simpler words like Sturm.

Use it like this: 

Wir wollten spazieren gehen und sind dabei in ein Unwetter geraten.

We wanted to go for a walk and ended up in a thunderstorm.

Am Wochenende soll es heftiges Unwetter geben. 

There is supposed to be heavy thunderstorms at the weekend.