In Nautical language, weather means “windward,” or toward the direction from which the wind blows. A ship’s weather-bow is therefore the bow, or front section, on its windward side, where wind and waves often hit most forcefully. The term commonly appears in descriptions of storms, rough seas, and a vessel’s position relative to the wind.

Weather in this phrase does not mean atmospheric conditions generally; it means the side exposed to the wind. The opposite term is lee-bow, the forward side sheltered from the wind, or facing away from it. A related expression, on the weather bow, describes an object or vessel seen ahead and toward the windward side of a ship. The term combines weather, from the Nautical sense “windward,” with bow, meaning the front of a vessel.