Weather, fire and emergencies

Read the weather

The top bar shows the weather and outdoor temperature. Hover it to see effects. Rain, fog, thunderstorms and dry thunderstorms change visibility, shooting conditions, solar output and wind. Heat waves and cold snaps can occur alongside them.

Rain puts out fires outdoors but does not reach under roofs. It soaks colonists and speeds deterioration of exposed items. Below freezing, precipitation falls as snow. Snow builds up on open ground, slows walking and makes grazing harder; paved paths stay clear.

Compare the snow-covered ground with the paved path. Read the top bar for the outdoor conditions, then check indoor temperatures separately. View full screenshot

Protect electrical equipment

Charged batteries exposed to rain or snow can short-circuit. Build roofs over them. Keep solar panels and wind turbines unroofed and clear, and plan for their changing output during storms and at night.

Fight fires

Enable Firefight work. Colonists respond to fires near the colony, including outside normal working hours. For distant fires, use a direct prioritize order when safe. Drafted colonists need your attention before they can return to normal emergency work.

Wooden buildings, supplies and grass can burn. Fire damages things, spreads and heats enclosed rooms; trapped heat can ignite more contents. Rain helps outdoors, but a roofed room can keep burning. Build with stone where practical and keep routes out of dangerous rooms.

Lightning can ignite grass and buildings or strike people. Dry thunderstorms are particularly dangerous because rain is not there to extinguish the fire. On Peaceful, lightning and battery short circuits are less frequent, but they still occur.

Indoor fires can keep burning even when it rains outside. Enable Firefight work, keep an escape route and check the room's temperature before sending people into danger. View full screenshot

Prepare for seasonal extremes

Before winter, harvest crops, store animal feed, tailor warm clothes and heat bedrooms, treatment rooms and barns. During heat waves, check actual indoor temperatures and the exhaust sides of coolers. Food keeps longer in a freezer.

Blight and other events

Inspect letters and alerts when crops are blighted, people become sick or hostile animals arrive. Remove affected plants as appropriate, keep spare food and use Health and Needs to decide what deserves immediate attention.

The debug menu can deliberately trigger weather and disasters for experimentation. Save or export a colony first if you want to keep its current state.