Weather forms a fairly major visual part of the Animal Crossing series. As with real life weather, it changes often and typically reflects the four temperate seasons - spring, summer, autumn/fall, and winter. Not only does the weather form a visual part of the game, but it is also a fairly important practical part of the game, with weather influencing whether certain bugs and fish appear, amongst others. As in real life, weather is regularly mentioned by villagers, with rainy weather making them miserable and warm weather making them happy.
The two main forms of weather are precipitation and cloud coverage. However, the term "weather" also covers things like thunderstorms, rainbows, and even meteor showers.
Weather underwent a substantial improvement in New Leaf. The intensity of rainfall varies more often, and clouds appear differently at different times - for example, during hot weather, light clouds in the sky will appear more brown and "dusty", like a haze, especially at sunset.
The climate of the town does vary throughout the year, and here it is summarized.
In January and February, precipitation falls usually as snow. Snow is settled on the ground. However, towards late February, the snow begins to melt, and rain begins to fall, replacing the snow. March and April are the spring months, consisting of moderate rainfall occurring fairly regularly. However, in May and June, things change; this is the rainy season, where rain falls on the majority of days, and thunderstorms are common. Things die down by early July, and from July through until September, the dry season takes place. Barely any rain falls at all, on only a few days a month; therefore, care must be taken to water plants regularly throughout the late summer. In October, things normalize, with moderate amounts of rainfall falling fairly regularly. The same goes for November, although towards the middle and end of the month, snow flurries can be expected. However, heavy snowfall does not occur until early December, which is when the snow first settles. Snow falls regularly, being slightly more common around Toy Day, where in New Leaf, there are giant Snowflakes that can be caught with a Net.
Clouds
The six cloud stages. Please note that these clouds are from City Folk
A clear night in Wild World
Clouds form a major visual part of the series. However, the layout of the original Animal Crossing means that the sky is only ever seen once - on the train, where it is always cloudy - and, therefore, this section only applies to Wild World, City Folk, and New Leaf.
Clouds appear as fairly uniformly shaped ovals in Wild World. However, in City Folk, they are greatly improved, with a much more realistic ragged uneven shape, a characteristic they keep in New Leaf. Clouds appear in six different stages of thickness, each of which is slightly different from the next, to add a sense of variation. These stages are as follows:
Clear: No clouds in the sky. The sky appears bright blue, or, at night, full of stars.
Wisp: Similar to clear, but with faint, infrequent specks of white cloud trailing across the sky.
Light: Noticable clouds in the sky, dispersed but still frequent. Clouds white.
Moderate: Quite substantial cloud cover, lowered level of brightness. Sky usually still blue in the daytime or starry at night in breaks between clouds.
Dense: Packed cloud with gaps in coverage. Low level of brightness and lowered visibility. If rain or snow bearing, clouds are steel gray.
Complete: Heavy and steel gray with only small breaks in cloud. Always bearing rain or snow. Low visibility, horizon appears dull and foggy.
Thunderstorm: Similar to complete, but rarer and with absolutely no breaks in cloud and a further lowered light level and visibility, with occasional flashes of lightning and rumbles of thunder. Always bearing very heavy rain. Usually occurs during the height of summer.
Clouds appear white in the day, unless they bear precipitation, upon which they are steel gray. Clouds at night are a darker shade of gray, regardless of whether they carry precipitation. Cloud coverage also gives an indication as to what the weather will be like in the coming hours. Dark, thick clouds usually signify incoming rain, whereas light cloud usually means that the skies will be clear later on.
Clouds always blow northwards. This contradicts the fluttering of the town flag and the drifting of balloons through the sky, although this can be explained as that high-level winds are often different from ground-level winds.
In Animal Crossing: New Leaf, some towering vertical clouds known as cumulonimbus clouds can appear in the sky between the hours of 9am and 3pm in the month of August. They will appear very large and look like cloud-like mountains in the background.
Precipitation
Precipitation consists of any form of weather which falls from the sky - in this case, rain or snow. Although rain is the common precipitation for most of the year, in the winter months it is replaced with snow.
Rain falls from around mid February through to early December, whereas snow falls from as early as mid November until late February, although it is only heavy enough to settle on the ground from early December onwards. During portions of November and February, both rain and snow can occur; it could be rainy one day and snowy the next, or vice versa.
Fog
Fog in New Leaf, note the gray tint to the cliffs.
Fog is often a preclude to large thunderstorms. Objects in the distance are shrouded by a faint gray haze. When fog appears rain often follows in the next hour.
Rain is the second most common weather form, varying in abundance throughout the year. In May and June rain is often thought to be more common, but after July it is often considered a "dry season" where rain is rarer until September.
The presence of rain is neccessary for finding Gyroids and Coelacanths. Flowers that are present during this time are watered automatically. During rain, the game's music is changed.
Snow
Snow falling slowly in Wild World
A snow-coated town. Note the dense, gray cloud in the sky
Snow is a winter-specific weather form. The first snow can appear in late November and can begin to stick ot the ground on December 10th. White snow on the grass melts just before the end of February. Snow is slightly more common around Toy Day - where, in New Leaf, there are giant Snowflakes which can be caught with a Net - but otherwise, there is very little difference in snowfall levels throughout winter. "Thundersnow" does not occur, as thunderstorms are not found in winter.
Settled snow is a feature of winter and appears in the same abundance regardless of visual snowfall, covering the roofs of buildings, trees, rocks and grass. Snowballs are the most important feature relating to the presence of snow.
During snowy weather, villagers may mention the snow or the fact it is cold. Some villagers like the snow, but most of them complain about the cold conditions. As with rain, snow hydrates flowers without the need for a Watering Can. Additionally the regular themes change slightly for the snow.
Other Weather
This section covers any other forms of weather not yet covered, such as rainbows, thunderstorms, and even meteor showers.
Rainbows
A rainbow in Wild World.
Rainbows can seen seen very occasionally in the sky. They only appear when the sky has cleared very suddenly after many hours of heavy rain or snowfall. They do not occur if the sky clears gradually, nor to they occur at night, but they are more likely to occur after a thunderstorm ends suddenly than any other form of precipitation. Because they always come after many hours of rain, they are more common in the afternoon.
The rainbow fills the sky for the entire hour after the end of the rainfall. It starts of weak, before brightening as the hour progresses, peaking at it's brightest at about half past the hour. From this point onward, it tends to slowly fade away, before it is completely gone by the beginning of the next hour.
While there is a rainbow in the sky, the chances of 100 Bells dropping from trees is increased.
They appear in all games, although in Animal Crossing, the rainbow appears near a waterfall, as the sky is not visible in that game.
Double Rainbows
A double rainbow.
Double rainbows only occur in New Leaf, and they are exceptionally rare. They appear as a bright rainbow, with another, slightly fainter rainbow located directly above it.
Thunderstorms are a severe form of weather that is present in all games. During a thunderstorm, the clouds are darker and thicker than usual, and the horizon appears foggier than normal. Rain falls more heavily, and flashes of lightning commonly light up the ground, followed by rumbles of thunder.
Thunderstorms can be easy to find, but it depends what time of year it is. During the summer rainy season of May and June, they are very common, usually occuring towards the end of the day. However, outside of this period, they are quite rare. In winter, they do not occur at all, meaning that thundersnow is not possible.
Although not technically weather, meteors are treated as such in Animal Crossing. They occur on random nights of the year, starting at 7pm and lasting well into the night. Meteors can be wished on by pressing "A"; the wisher will recieve a present from Wishy the Star the next day.
Effect on Wildlife
In all games in the Animal Crossing series, the weather, particularly precipitation, influences wildlife in the game.
Fishing on a snowy or rainy day is the only way to catch a Coelacanth.
It is generally considered that rain and snow encourage rarer fish to appear in Animal Crossing games. One fish, the rare Coelacanth, only appears when it rains or snows.
Many bugs do not appear during rain, such as butterflies, the scorpion, the tarantula, and dragonflies. To the contrary, the Snail can only be found when it is raining. Cicadas can still be found when it is raining, but they do not make any noise.
The Dung Beetle is the only insect that is dependent on snow to exist – it appears exclusively when snow is on the ground, the reason being that it can only be found rolling snowballs around on the ground.
Both rain and snow automatically hydrate flowers, without the need for a Watering Can.
Forecasting the weather
Weather Warnings
A bulletin notifying the Player of a soon-to-arrive meteor shower on City Folk.
A weather forecast in New Leaf
At the start of each new major weather system, a note is left on the bulletin board to inform the Player of its imminent arrival.
Snow Warning: this weather warning warns of an approaching snowstorm. It appears in early December, two days before snow first settles on the ground.
New Year Weather: this bulletin provides information on the weather mid-way through winter, in mid January. It contains information about upcoming snow levels, temperatures, and the possibility of ponds freezing over. Despite the warning, water does not freeze over.
May Weather Forecast: this notice appears on the first Wednesday of May. It heralds the arrival of the rainy season, during which it rains regularly and thunderstorms are common. It also states that the temperature will begin to pick up for summer.
July Weather Forecast: this forecast appears on 1 July. It states that the rainy season "is about to wrap up", and after that it will get "hot, hot, HOT!". It heralds the arrival of the hot, dry season which takes place for the remainder of the summer.
Meteor Shower: although meteors are not a weather system, this note is labelled as a "weather warning" on the bulletin board. It appears on the morning of a meteor shower, which occur on random days of the year.
Weather Forecast
The weather forecast on a modifiedRobo-TV in New Leaf, predicting sunny weather for the following day
In addition to the weather warnings, it is regularly forecast on the TV. The weather forecast appears five times a day (starting 6:45am, 7:45am, 11:45am, 6:45pm, and 10:45pm), and last fifteen minutes each. The weather forecast accurately shows what the weather will be like the next day using a symbol, such as a sun, a raindrop, a snowflake, or a lightning bolt. The weather forecast, however, cannot show the weather for different times of the day, so it is just a generalization of the entire day's weather. Despite this, it is always correct.
Other Weather Features and Facts
Unlike in City Folk, meteors only appear on their own in Wild World. They can be wished upon by pressing the 'A' button when it flashes through the sky. It is only possible to do this when holding no items. This will result in a present being mailed to the Player, containing a spotlight item usually only available from Tom Nook's Store.
A faint rainbow, as it appears in City Folk.
In both Wild World and City Folk, the sky clears when a fireworks show is due to take place. Meteors only appear on clear nights as well, and are accompanied by a twinkling noise.
In the city area in City Folk, the weather is often different to that in the Player's town. Snow does not settle in the city, but does on the bus that drives to and from it. If it is raining in the city, the animals there will carry umbrellas.
Confetti falls continuously from the sky during the Festivale in City Folk. On this day, the sky tends to be very clear- any snow fall would conflict with the fall of confetti.
From the 6th to the 8th of April in City Folk and Animal Crossing, blossom from the trees floats through the sky, much like confetti does during the Festivale in City Folk (see above). The sky is clear on these days. On the 9th, trees go green and blossom stops falling.
