Absolutely “clear skies”!

Have you ever heard that? First of all, why do we use the plural “skies” if there is only one sky over all the earth?

So do we say sky or skies?

The use of the words sky and skies is completely dependent upon context.

sky

noun  /skaɪ/ [countable, uncountable](plural skies)

​The space above the earth that you can see when you look up, where clouds and the sun, moon and stars appear.

You usually say the sky. When sky is used with an adjective, use a… sky.

• The sky suddenly went dark and it started to rain.

 in the sky 

• What’s that in the sky?
• The sun was shining brightly and there was not a single cloud in the sky.

across the sky 

• White clouds moved fast across the sky.

 under a sky 

• A crowd gathered in the square under an overcast sky.

meteors falling from the sky

the night sky

a cloudless sky

You can also use the plural form skies, especially when you are thinking about the great extent of the sky.

cloudless skies

Skies are also used when referring to the sky in a particular place when describing the weather or what the sky looks like in a place.

The plural is not mandatory in these cases, but it is generally viewed as the correct grammatical usage.

• a land of blue skies and warm sunshine 
• The skies are overcast, and it is chilly and damp.
• Clear skies could well mean temperatures dropping tonight.
• The forecast calls for clear skies with a chance of thunderstorms later on.

Skies has more of a poetic or literary meaning, which is used to express heavenly power as in reach for the skies.

People also tend to be poetic about the freedom that comes with an open sky or compare a happy day to having a cloudless sky.

Also, look at the following usage in an economic forecast context.

And just wrapping up this lesson, clear not clean skies, okay?

Clear skies mean clean and fresh, without clouds or mist.

• a clear June morning
• The skies were clear and blue.

Autumn mornings are often chilly. In chilly weather, you might want a light jacket, but you won’t need a heavy coat, or a scarf, or anything like that.

So chilly means that it’s a little cold. Not very cold, just a little cold.

But what if it’s very cold? You could say that it’s freezing.

Freezing means that it is very cold. Not just chilly, but very cold.

What’s the weather like? showed the more basic answers and vocabulary.

Weather expressions taught useful weather expressions, new words, phrases, and common patterns you can use to describe different kinds of weather.

But if you still didn’t find the exact words to describe the weather where you are, listen to the ones used in the following video, that you might need to describe those sunny days, stormy days, and all those in between, especially during cold weather such as:

• damp that means that something is slightly wet;

• overcast that means that the clouds are covering the sky and you cannot see the sun.

Take notes, look up the words you don’t know, and pay attention to pronunciation. It’s an old video, but it’s useful.