{{About|the gameplay mechanic|the command|Commands/weather}}
[[File:Weather preview.png|right|200px]]
[[File:UVNCC.jpg|thumb|right|Weather shown in 2 [[biome]]s.]]

'''Weather''' in ''[[Minecraft]]'' consists of occasional precipitation and storms that are temporary but global.<ref>{{Tweet|notch|55984678875836416|It's temporal and global|April 07, 2011}}</ref> 

== Behavior ==
[[File:WeatherSkyComparison.png|thumb|upright|A comparison of sky light levels during different types of weather. {{IN|Be}}, both rainy and stormy weather are grayscale.]]

The type of weather that occurs depends on several variable factors, including the [[Biome#Temperature|temperature]] of the current biome, and the [[altitude]] in which it occurs. 

Players who have cheats enabled can change the current weather if they wish, using the {{cmd|weather}} command. {{IN|bedrock}}, {{cmd|toggledownfall}} also switches to inclement weather, or vice versa.

Weather changing with time can be toggled on or off using the {{cd|doWeatherCycle}} [[game rule]]. When set to {{cd|false}}, the weather stays the same indefinitely, unless altered using the {{cmd|weather}} command.

== Effects ==
Inclement weather reduces the sky [[light]] level, depending on the severity of the storm. Because of this, [[villager]]s return to their homes until the storm passes.

The sky itself darkens, to the point where celestial bodies (including the [[sun]], [[moon]], and [[Moon#Stars|stars]]) are no longer visible. The clouds darken depending on the severity of the weather; note that the clouds themselves do not precipitate. Although the sun is not visible during rain, the glow associated with sunrise and sunset is still visible.

=== Rain ===
{{Main|Rain}}

Rain occurs only in biomes with a temperature of 0.15–0.95. Rainstorms reduce the light level to 12 in full daylight.<ref>{{Tweet|notch|55982751265988610|You can't see sun/moon/stars while it's raining, and days are one level darker.|April 07, 2011}}</ref>

Rain extinguishes [[fire]]s (including [[Flame|flaming arrows]]<ref>{{tweet|notch|55977565839564800|I'm not making it solidify lava, as that would ruin all surface lava structures when the first rain hits. But it does put out fires.|April 07, 2011}}</ref>). However, it does not extinguish fires on [[netherrack]],<ref>{{tweet|notch|56265234951831552|it will not!|April 08, 2011}}</ref> and it does not [[obsidian|solidify]] [[lava]]. [[Mob]]s that are on fire are extinguished on contact with rain; this prevents [[skeleton]]s and [[zombie]]s from burning during the day. On the contrary, [[endermen]] and [[snow golem]]s may die due to their weakness to water. Endermen teleport randomly until they find a dry place. [[Blaze]]s and [[strider]]s that are brought into the [[Overworld]] take damage and eventually die from being in contact with rain.

[[File:Rainy Hills.png|thumb|A view of hills during rain.]]

Other interesting effects caused by rain:

* [[Fish (food)|Fish]] are more abundant during rain.<ref>{{tweet|notch|55981125994156032|Higher odds of catching fish while raining.. Good one. :D I'll try making it fill small holes with water, but it might be annoying.. brb|April 07, 2011}}</ref>
* [[Wolves]] shake themselves dry if they are not moving (certain versions only).
* [[Farmland]] becomes hydrated if it isn't already.<ref>{{tweet|notch|55972362432151552|Wolves get wet in the rain. Crops get watered. Anything else it should affect?|April 07, 2011}}</ref>
* Rain fills up [[cauldron]]s with [[water]], albeit slowly.

Rain [[particle]]s make noise when they hit a block, and this noise can be heard at any point within 16 blocks. These particles can be disabled by setting Particles to "Minimal" in the [[Video Settings]] menu.{{only|java}}

{{-}}

=== Snow ===
{{Main|Snowfall}}

[[File:Snowing.png|thumb|right|An example of snow falling.]]
[[File:Snowing BE.jpg|thumb|right|An example of snow falling in Bedrock Edition.]]

Snowfall occurs only in biomes with a temperature less than 0.15, or above a sufficient altitude. Like rainstorms, snowfall reduces the light level to 12 in full daylight. {{IN|be}}, [[leaves]] gradually take on a frosted appearance once snowfall begins in snowy biomes.

As it snows, [[snow layer]]s regenerate over all non-transparent blocks.<ref>{{tweet|notch|55919635593306112|Ice and snow will regrow, farms will autowater|April 07, 2011}}</ref> {{IN|be}}, these snow layers accumulate and grow over time. Snow does not cover [[Opacity|transparent blocks]].

Any entities on fire are not extinguished upon contact with snow.

=== Thunderstorm ===
{{Main|Thunderstorm}}
[[File:LightningStrike.gif|frame|A lightning bolt strikes a [[tree]]. A creeper can be seen walking through the woods. If it had been closer to the strike, it would have become [[Creeper#Charged creeper|charged]].]]
Thunderstorms may occur in any biome. They reduce the [[Light#Internal light level|internal sky light level]]. At noon the internal sky light level at surface is only 10. However, in mob spawning system, the light level from the sky is treated as if it were 5, allowing hostile mobs to spawn at any time of the day.<ref>{{Tweet|notch|57363403102105600|MUOAHAHA! Thunder Storms lower the brightness. That means daytime monsters during storms. This is freakily atmospheric.|April 11, 2011}}</ref>

=== Lightning ===
{{main|Thunderstorm#Lightning}}

[[Lightning]] occurs frequently during thunderstorms, if there is rain. It strikes randomly, creating [[fire]]s where it strikes, igniting any nearby flammable materials, but the rain usually puts the fire out before it can spread. Lightning can strike only blocks that are exposed to the rain.
Lightning does not occur naturally in biomes that are too hot or dry to have rain or so cold that it snows instead of rains, but can still be summoned with a channeling trident.<!-- Observations of no natural lightning in hot/dry/all snow biomes, that there is lightning in biomes that snow only above a certain altitude, and that channeling tridents still work, done in Java 1.19.2 -->

Lightning deals {{hp|5}} damage to entities on normal difficulty, not including the damage done by the fire it causes. It turns creepers into [[charged creeper]]s, [[villager]]s into [[witch]]es, [[pig]]s into [[zombified piglin]]s, and [[mooshrooms]] into their brown variants.

Lightning may randomly spawn a [[Skeleton Horse|"skeleton trap" skeletal horse]], with a chance of 3.75–7.5% on Easy, 7.5–20% on Normal, and 11.25–33.75% on Hard, depending on the [[regional difficulty]].

Thunder is a sound that occurs every time lightning strikes. It can be heard by the player up to 160,000 blocks away from the position of the lightning strike. Thunder is heard instantly, regardless the player's distance from the lightning strike itself.

Lightning may be manually summoned with the {{cmd|summon lightning_bolt}} command. While it is summoned as an entity, it cannot be referred to by [[commands]] or [[Commands#Selectors|selectors]].

If the player throws a trident enchanted with [[channeling]] during a thunderstorm, it summons a lightning bolt at the thrown area.

== Video ==
<div style="text-align:center">{{yt|6ZjxDqRZv5k}}</div>

== History ==
{{info needed section|the possibility that rain/snow textures were originally inverted in-game, as shown in the following forum post: https://www.minecraftforum.net/forums/archive/legacy-support/1841577-weird-rain-bug - testing in 22w14a did not reveal any such inversion existing, meaning it was likely fixed at some point between 1.2.5 and 22w14a}}
[[File:Rain.png|thumb|right|[[Rain]] pouring down in [[Java Edition Classic]]]]
{{HistoryTable
|{{HistoryLine|java classic}}
|{{HistoryLine||October 22, 2009|link=https://notch.tumblr.com/post/220243988/half-sized-blocks-all-dirt-tiles-so-it-kinda|Showcased rain.}}
|{{HistoryLine||October 22, 2009|link=https://notch.tumblr.com/post/220248282/thinner-rain-and-yeah-it-gets-stopped-by|Rain is now shown to be thinner.}}
|{{HistoryLine||0.26 SURVIVAL TEST|Rain was introduced purely for cosmetic purposes. The mechanics were simple, testing only if there is a block above to shelter the rain.}}
|{{HistoryLine||0.27 SURVIVAL TEST|{{key|F5}} now toggles rain.}}
|{{HistoryLine||0.29_01|Rain can now be toggled only in Creative mode.}}
|{{HistoryLine|java indev}}
|{{HistoryLine||20100218|Pressing {{key|F5}} no longer toggles rain.}}
|{{HistoryLine|java infdev}}
|{{HistoryLine||20100413|Pressing {{key|F5}} now toggles rain again. The rain effects are broken, resulting in only rain particles appearing around the player. They always appear at sea level.|Since pressing F5 also toggles between first and third person view, these particles are visible only in third person view.}}
|{{HistoryLine|java alpha}}
|{{HistoryLine||v1.0.4|Added [[Winter mode]]. While generating a world, there is a 25% chance to get a snowy world, where snow falls continuously. This feature was eventually removed with the introduction of [[biome]]s.}}
|{{HistoryLine||v1.2.0|dev=<nowiki>?</nowiki>|slink=:Category:Information needed requiring unarchived version|Removed [[Winter mode]], and replaced it with [[biome]]s.}}
|{{HistoryLine|java beta}}
|{{HistoryLine||1.5|Weather was introduced. Rain, snowfall, and thunderstorms were implemented after a teaser video was released.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy882ILYJMM</ref> Rain looks identical to the rain in Classic, but also plays two different sound files.
|Added the ability for lightning strikes to charge creepers and transform pigs into zombie pigmen.}}
|{{HistoryLine||1.5_01|Fixed a bug where rain fell through certain blocks like [[glass]], [[stairs]] and [[slab]]s.}}
|{{HistoryLine||1.6|dev=Test Build 3|Fixed a bug where the rain seemed to freeze when climbing down [[ladder]]s until you reached the bottom or changed direction, possibly indicating that you climbed at same speed as the rain fell.
|Fixed a bug where rain and snow fell underwater.}}
|{{HistoryLine|java}}
|{{HistoryLine||1.0.0|dev=Beta 1.9 Prerelease|Snowfall destroys [[redstone]], [[torch]]es, [[sapling]]s, and minecart [[rail]]s.}}
|{{HistoryLine|||dev=Beta 1.9 Prerelease 5|Fixed the above bug.}}
|{{HistoryLine||1.3.1|dev=12w23a|Weather transitioning was added.}}
|{{HistoryLine||1.4.2|dev=12w32a|Added the {{cmd|weather}} command, which can change weather.}}
|{{HistoryLine||1.7.2|dev=13w39a|The rendering brightness is now decreased during thunderstorms. Previously, the sky would darken, but the ground wouldn't appear to get darker, even though monsters could spawn.
|The clouds and the sky now appear much darker during thunderstorms.{{verify|Wasn't this the case before 12w18a, since 12w18a broke it, and it's just that this version fixed it?}}}}
|{{HistoryLine||1.8|dev=14w03a|Lightning now transforms villagers into witches.}}
|{{HistoryLine|||dev=14w30a|Lightning can now be manually summoned with the {{cmd|summon LightningBolt}} command.}}
|{{HistoryLine||1.9|dev=15w38a|There is a chance (depending on [[regional difficulty]]) that a lightning strike spawns a [[Skeleton Horse|"skeleton trap" skeletal horse]].}}
|{{HistoryLine|||dev=16w04a|Rain sounds updated. Now more ambient/quieter and sounds more realistic.}}
|{{HistoryLine||1.11|dev=16w38a|Added {{cmd|gamerule doWeatherCycle}}, which toggles natural weather changing.}}
|{{HistoryLine||1.17|dev=20w46a|[[Cauldron]]s can now be filled with [[powder snow]] during snowfall.}}
|{{HistoryLine||1.18|dev=21w44a|[[Sleeping]] now resets the weather cycle only if it is currently raining or snowing.<ref>{{bug|MC-63340||Sleeping always resets time until rain|Fixed}}</ref> Therefore, sleeping frequently no longer prevents rain or snow from happening.}}

|{{HistoryLine|pocket alpha}}
|{{HistoryLine||v0.12.1|dev=build 1|Added weather and weather transitioning.}}
|{{HistoryLine|||dev=build 2|Leaves in snowy taigas now appear frost covered when snowfall happens.}}
|{{HistoryLine|||dev=build 9|Rain is now visible from under water.
|Rain should cause less lag.}}
|{{HistoryLine|pocket}}
|{{HistoryLine||1.0.0|dev=?|Weather can now be skipped by sleeping.}}

|{{HistoryLine|console}}
|{{HistoryLine||xbox=TU1|xbone=CU1|ps3=1.00|psvita=1.00|ps4=1.00|wiiu=Patch 1|switch=1.0.1|Added weather.}}
|{{HistoryLine||xbox=TU5|Improved the rain edges (when looking up in rain).}}
|{{HistoryLine||xbox=TU25|xbone=CU14|ps3=1.17|psvita=1.17|ps4=1.17|Clouds are now black during thunderstorms, thus telling the difference between rain and thunderstorms.}}
|{{HistoryLine||xbox=TU31|xbone=CU19|ps3=1.22|psvita=1.22|ps4=1.22|wiiu=Patch 3|Weather transitioning was added.}}
|{{HistoryLine||xbox=TU69|xbone=none|ps3=1.76|psvita=1.76|ps4=1.76|wiiu=Patch 38|switch=none|Rain sounds updated. Now more ambient/quieter and sounds more realistic.}}

}}

== Issues ==
{{Issue list}}

== Trivia ==
[[File:Void Rain.png|thumb|right|Rain falling into the void.]]

* Rain and snow still falls above the clouds. Notch's explanation is that the gray above the clouds during a storm is “another layer of clouds” and the origin of the rain.<ref>{{tweet|notch|130230769347067905|there's another layer of clouds above the low one! That's why the sky turns gray.|October 29, 2011}}</ref>
* Rain and snow are both considered the same weather effect by the game. This explains why there is no {{cmd|weather snow}} command.
* Rain and snow actually fall one block into the void (Layer -1). This can be seen in Creative Mode by floating in the Void. No particles are emitted from the rain, due to the absence of a block below it for it to fall on.
* Lightning does not have an image file associated with it. Thus, it is coded directly into the game engine, allowing for dynamic, realistic lightning.
*[[Helen Zbihlyj]] created a design document for a scientifically accurate rework of ''[[Minecraft]]'''s weather system.<ref>{{tweet|HelenAngel|1808933672143499454|Fun fact: there’s already a design document at Mojang with a scientifically correct & complete reworking of the weather system that would still make it biome-appropriate as it goes by thermotropic weather patterns. I know because I designed it. So the design doc is there.|July 4, 2024}}</ref>

== Gallery ==
=== Screenshots ===
<gallery>
Notch Weather.jpg|An image of snow and rain from Notch's twitter.
Stormforest.png|Rain in the forest biome.
Snowfalltundra.png|Snowfall in the taiga biome.
Lightning.png|Lightning during a thunderstorm.
Dry Rain.png|Rain not falling in a desert. (click to see rain)
Dark Rain.png|Weather darkens the sky to the extent of the sun being hidden from view.
Snowfall Transition Bedrock.gif|A timelapse of leaves becoming frosted at the start of snowfall in Bedrock Edition.
RainAndSnow.gif|Rain & snow, animated
Rain and Snow.jpg|An example of rain falling over a river while snow falls around it.
Void Thunder.png|The void during a lightning strike.
Lightning fire.png|The fire that a lightning bolt creates.
Rain in jungle.png|Rain in jungle biome.
</gallery>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Navigation ==
{{Navbox environment}}

[[cs:Počasí]]
[[de:Wetter (Begriffsklärung)]]
[[es:Clima]]
[[fr:Météo]]
[[ja:天候]]
[[ko:날씨]]
[[nl:Weer]]
[[pl:Pogoda]]
[[pt:Clima]]
[[ru:Погода]]
[[uk:Погода]]
[[zh:天气]]
