Weather and climate both refer to the pattern of variables such as temperature, precipitation, wind, and humidity of an area. However, they do not mean the same thing. Weather refers to current atmospheric conditions, whereas climate is the area's weather averaged over a period of 30 or more years. Therefore, weather refers to current and short term atmospheric conditions (e.g. daily, weekly, monthly), and climate is the long term pattern of a specific area's temperature, precipitation, and atmospheric conditions.