晴れ and 曇り: time ranges for clear and cloudy weather
Distinguish weather nouns from verb forms and identify when conditions change.
Clear weather
晴れ (はれ) means clear weather. 「今日は晴れです」 says the weather is clear today.
「午後から晴れました」 says it cleared up from the afternoon. Distinguish the noun 晴れ from the past form of the verb 晴れる.
Cloudy weather
曇り (くもり) means cloudy weather. 「朝は曇りでした」 says it was cloudy in the morning.
「空が曇ってきました」 describes the sky becoming cloudy. It presents the onset or progression of the change.
Forecast order
「晴れのち曇り」 means clear, then cloudy. Do not reverse it into cloudy, then clear.
「曇りですが、雨は降っていません」 says it is cloudy but not raining. 曇り does not itself mean falling rain.
Which condition comes later in 「晴れのち曇り」?
Show the answer and why
Cloudy weather. のち places the condition that follows it later in time.