Weather System

Weather is a game mechanic of Subnautica: Below Zero that will affect temperature and may affect power output for Solar Panels.^[1] Each weather type has a different effect in gameplay.

Weather Types

Available Weather Types

These weather types currently occur naturally.

Blizzard

Extremely heavy snowfall that restricts the player's vision to several meters. Decreases temperature quicker.

Calm

Calm weather has no falling effects and the skies are partially cloudy. Has a chance to trigger an aurora borealis effect at night.

Electric Storm

In an electric storm, there is a partial layer of snowy fog that impairs vision. There are also frequent lightning strikes and thunder all around the player.

Hail Storm

Hail storms add a layer of fog similar to a snow storm. It also produces heavy snowfall that causes particles effects of ice hitting the ground and shattering. Decreases temperature quicker.

Heavy Fog

Heavy fog adds a layer of snowy fog to the world. It can only occur naturally in the Arctic Spires.

Light Fog

Light fog adds a weaker layer of snowy fog. It can only occur naturally in the Arctic Spires.

Light Snow

Light snow effect with little or no fog. No effect on gameplay. Has a chance to trigger an aurora borealis effect at night.

Snow Storm

In a snow storm, there is a layer of snowy fog that impairs vision.

Whiteout Blizzard

A whiteout blizzard shares a name with the blizzard but the player cannot see at all more than a foot away due to the extremely heavy layer of fog. Sound is also reduced to a "whiteout" sound.

Unavailable Weather Types

These weather types do not yet occur naturally, however they may be added in the future. Some may still be triggered through in-game commands.

Clear Skies

Clear skies is identical to the calm weather type, however it has been confirmed to have been cut.^[2]

Rain

Rainfall effect. May decrease temperature in the future, if re-implemented.

Scripted Weather Events

These weather events are only triggered at specific point[s] during the story, and may not be triggered through console commands.

Meteor Storm

The meteor storm is active at the beginning of the game. It features little fog and meteors raining down from the sky and colliding with the terrain. Meteors can damage or kill fauna that they land on. Though not part of the weather event specifically, a meteor strikes Vesper Station.

Protection & Monitoring

Players will be able to avoid the negative effects of weather by hiding in caves^[3] or in a Seabase. The effects of weather may also be nullified by going underwater.

Triggering Weather through Commands

There are multiple commands specifically related to the weather system.

weather toggles weather entirely.
wind toggles all wind effects.
precipitation toggles rain and snowfall effects.
lightning toggles lightning effects.
forceweathernext ends the current weather and starts the next predicted weather event.
resetweather re-rolls all predicted weather for the next 24 in-game hours.
weatherevent [NAME] sets the current weather to the designated type. Note that this disables the normal weather flow and the weather will not change by itself after using this command. The weather event codes are as follows:
- blizzard
- calm
- clearskies
- electricstorm
- hailstorm
- heavyfog
- lightfog
- lightsnow
- rain
- snowstorm
- whiteoutblizzard

Trivia

Weather was originally planned and worked on during the development of Subnautica such as rain for example, however it was scrapped after alterations to the skybox.
Previously, weather was meant to be monitored using the Weather Station (and later with the Control Room), however it was later scrapped.^[4]