There/it will be a storm today...

[thehammer]

Hello there, I know I should say "It will rain today". But 'it' or 'there" which one should I use with 'storm'?

- There/it will be a storm today.

 

[emsr2d2]

There will be a storm today.
It will be stormy today.

You can't say "It will storm ..." because "storm" (when talking about the weather) is a noun but not a verb. "Rain", however, is both a noun and a verb.

 

[thehammer]

There will be a storm today.
It will be stormy today.

You can't say "It will storm ..." because "storm" (when talking about the weather) is a noun but not a verb. "Rain", however, is both a noun and a verb.

Out of curiosity I want to ask you if I could say 'There could be a rain/rains today'.

 

[emsr2d2]

Out of curiosity I want to ask you if I could say 'There could be a rain/rains today'.

No, but you can say "There could be rain today". In that sentence, "rain" is uncountable.

 

[Skrej]

You can't say "It will storm ..." because "storm" (when talking about the weather) is a noun but not a verb. "Rain", however, is both a noun and a verb.

'Storm' is used as a verb when referring to weather though. Here's one dictionary example ( verb definition 1a and 1b), but you can find a weather-related verb entry in in most dictionaries.

Phrases like "It's storming out" and "It's going to storm this evening' are very commonly used in my region, especially this time of the year.

 

[Rover_KE]

I’ve never encountered that usage in BE.

 

[Tarheel]

My guess is it's a regionalism.

 

[Skrej]

There's an entry for it as a weather verb in several (but not all) dictionaries. In addition to the Webster entry above:

• Dictionary..com verb 9
• Collins does list it as AmE. in verb entry #6
• Britannica dictionary has it under verb entry #1

Cambridge and Collins do not a verb entry in the sense of weather, though.

 

[jutfrank]

This is interesting to me because unlike my peers I do use 'storm' as verb. But every time time I do, I feel acutely aware that it's not quite right. For me, as someone who grew up in the South of England, it feels as if it 'ought' to be a verb but isn't quite one yet.

 

[SoothingDave]

"It's going to storm" is perfectly natural to me.