What are the different types of weather in Minecraft?

Minecraft is an incredibly popular sandbox video game, played by millions of people in both its single-player and multiplayer modes. Being a game that is rather similar to real life, but with a blocky look to it, players are able to wander around with the sun shining down on them, hunt animals in the piercing rain, build houses under a nice cloudy sky, or even farm as it snows.

Have you ever looked up at the sky in Minecraft and wondered what weather exists in the game? This article lists out all of the different types of weather in Minecraft.

---

Looking at all the types of weather that exist within the Minecraft world

Clear/Cloudy

Clear weather (Image via Minecraft Fandom)

Clear weather can be described as a perfect blue sky with nothing but bright, warm sunlight. The sun is high in the sky, and you'll feel like you're walking around outside on a sunny day. Being one of the most common types of weather in Minecraft, this is what you'll see on almost any Minecraft server and visibility will never be an issue.

There is no difference between clear and cloudless skies since the clouds don’t block sunlight from hitting your character or surrounding terrain. As a player, you're able to easily disable whether or not clouds are visible, or put on a lower graphics setting to improve the smoothness of your game.

---

Rain

Rain (Image via Minecraft Fandom)

Rain is a type of Minecraft weather that can only be found in the Overworld and can occur in any season, but it is never seen in deserts or the savannah biomes. In colder regions, it never rains, likely due to the water instantly turning to snow. If it rains while the sun is out, it decreases the sunlight's strength, making the surroundings darker.

Typically, rainfall lasts anywhere from half an in-game day to a full in-game day. If this happens, it will not rain again for up to half an in-game day or up to 7.5 in-game days. Rain can turn into a thunderstorm in-game, but the chances of that occurring are low. If it's raining, players can always get into bed and the rain will go away when they wake up.

Rain has the ability to extinguish any fires, including flaming arrows. However, it doesn't take out lit campfires, so you're always able to keep those burning outside. Just like in real life, rain also has the ability to make plants grow faster and crops grow faster than usual in Minecraft.

---

Thunderstorm

Thunderstorm (Image via Minecraft Fandom)

When it rains, there's a possibility that it will become a thunderstorm, dealing damage to players and entities if they're hit by lightning. Capable of striking the ground, there is always a chance that the lightning will strike blocks near you. When this happens, a loud “thunder noise” can be heard and a bright flash will illuminate your screen, before a fire begins where the lighting strikes.

Thunderstorms are an uncommon weather occurrence. Just like with rain, players can go to sleep at anytime in a thunderstorm, so it will be gone when you wake up. Additionally, thunderstorms reduce the light level from the sky even more than rain does.

With lightning being a major element of these storms, it affects every mob differently when it hits them. If a horse is hit by lightning, it will transform into four skeletal horsemen. A creeper struck by lightning becomes a charged creeper that has significantly more power when it explodes. A pig turns into a zombie pigman, the very same creature that you can find in the Nether. Villagers hit by lightning turn into witches, and red mushrooms change into brown mooshrooms, and vice versa.

---

Snow

Snow (Image via Minecraft Fandom)

Snowfall is a biome-specific phenomenon that can only occur in snowy biomes at any randomized time. Depending on the biome you're in, snowfall will only occur above a certain y level. In such a location, snowfall will last for the same amount of time as rain does.

Falling snowflake particle effects are even visible in the air. Furthermore, entities that are on fire do not go out when they come into contact with snow, unlike when it rains. Snowflakes don't appear to fall straight onto the player, but fall along the two middle lines of every block instead. During snowfall, the clouds darken from white to light gray, but do not precipitate.