Can you tell me the difference between weather and temperature?

Question

I keep hearing people try to discredit the global warming theory by bringing up snow. More than a few times when I respond with the explanation of how snow and temperature are only related in that is has to be at 0 degrees C for there to be snow, I get this response that the "alarmists" are trying to say any weather is a sign of global warming... It seems to me that people get temperature and weather mixed up... Yes, it has to be cold for it to snow, but just because it's cold enough to snow during WINTER doesn't mean the planet is not warming.. It's completely unrelated. There has been no one claiming that snow will stop happening. And the amount of snow has NOTHING to do with how cold it is. You can have 20 feet in -30 deg. C, you can have 20 feet in 0 deg. C. I am simply trying to filter out the ignorance here. Actually, more snow could be a result of warm temperatures. This is how storms work. They are low pressure zones that gather moisture through evaporation and sometimes sublimation (solid to gas). This means that heat can cause stronger storms, because it allows for more evaporation... These snow storms sweeping across the east coast didn't form there, they formed in a warmer climate, like the tropics (Mexico). So they got their strength from a warm climate, THEN came over and dumped a crap load of snow. Yes it's cold enough to snow right now on the mid east coast, I would hope so!! If not we would be in a crap load of trouble right now! This information is science 101, if you want to start arguing science, then do that. But please stop going on about how all this snow is contradicting global warming, cause it simply is not. If anything it is a sign of global warming.

Update:

So the question is, what is the difference between weather and temperature, and how are they related?

Update 2:

Jim Z: Temperature and weather are part of climate. Temperature helps drive the weather, which means they are related, but it doesn't mean they are one in the same... You can have cold and not snow, you can have warm and not rain... Also you guys use such extremes. "It's warming, so how can it snow!?!". It's not like we are saying it's warming 10 degrees every year or something, it's a gradual process. It's less than one degrees over a century. That is important when considering climate though! It's not going to immediately change local weather patterns...

Dana1981 · Accepted Answer

Local temperature is one factor in local weather.  Precipitation is another, which has more to do with snow during winter than temperature.

When talking about global warming, obviously the most relevant factor is the average global temperature, which is currently at record high levels.
http://climateprogress.org/2010/02/08/climate-science-extreme-weather-moisture-precipitation-warmest-winter-satellite-record-deniers-jeff-masters/

It's amazing how many people lose sight of this simple and critical fact (including most of the media) just because it's snowing in some places in winter.

As for precipitation, here's how the latest IPCC report predicted it would change regionally in response to global warming:

"Annual average precipitation increases over most of northern Europe, the Arctic, Canada, *the northeastern United States*, tropical and eastern Africa, the northern Pacific, and Antarctica, as well as northern Asia and the Tibetan Plateau in winter. 

Annual average precipitation decreases in most of the Mediterranean, northern Africa, northern Sahara, Central America, the American Southwest, the southern Andes, as well as southwestern Australia during winter." (emphasis mine).
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/science/futurepsc.html

So not only are people losing sight of the most important fact - that globally the planet is at record high temperatures even according to the deniers' own favorite UAH satellite data set - but climate models predict more precipitation (and snow) in some areas and less in others.  As I emphasized in the quote above, increased winter precipitation in the northeastern US is an effect predicted by the IPCC.  And since this region is often below freezing during the winter (which global warming won't change for decades yet), that precipitation will fall as snow.  Thus increased snowfall in the NE US is totally consistent with global warming.

? · Answer

climate refers back to the sum finished of climatic circumstances over a huge section for long quantity of time. while climate refers back to the state of the ambience over a close-by at any component of time.

JimZ · Answer

I wonder if you know that temperature is part of weather.  It is the part that is most exaggerated by alarmists except when things aren't going so well for them.  I feel for you alarmists with snow in Dallas and Rome.  It has to be hard to keep the faith.

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Can you tell me the difference between weather and temperature?

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