Ascend, I hear, in literary weather conditions (5)
I believe the answer is:
clime
'weather conditions' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'ascend i hear' is the wordplay.
'ascend' becomes 'climb' (climbing is a kind of ascending).
'i hear' indicates a 'sounds like' (homophone) clue.
'climb' sounds like 'CLIME'.
'in literary' acts as a link.
This may not be correct. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for clime that I've seen before include "Country, region" , "Region characterised by its general weather" .)