GTA 5 and FiveM weather: how to change it, full type list

Los Santos weather isn’t just scenery: it changes grip, visibility and the whole look of the game. Whether you just want clear skies for a photo session, or you run a FiveM server and need to lock the weather down, here’s how — plus the full list of usable weather types.

Changing the weather in GTA 5 single-player

In story mode, a cheat code cycles through weather conditions:

• PC: open the console with the ~ (tilde) key and type MAKEITRAIN;
• all platforms: dial 1-999-625-348-7246 on your character’s phone.

Each activation moves one step through the cycle: sunny → clear → cloudy → smoggy → overcast → rainy → thundery → clearing → snowing. So you’ll sometimes need to enter the code several times in a row to reach the condition you want.

Two limits worth knowing:

• cheat codes disable achievements for the current session (reloading a save re-enables them);
• it doesn’t work in GTA Online: weather there is synced by Rockstar’s servers, no player can change it.

Changing the weather on a FiveM server

On FiveM, weather is driven by natives, client-side. The three main ones:

-- Applies the weather instantly (no transition)
SetWeatherTypeNow('THUNDER')

-- Applies and LOCKS the weather: the automatic cycle won't override it
SetWeatherTypeNowPersist('EXTRASUNNY')

-- Same, but with the game's smooth transition
SetWeatherTypePersist('RAIN')

The gotcha that catches everyone: without the Persist variant, the game’s weather cycle takes over after a few seconds and your setting is lost. If you want frozen weather, use …Persist, reapplied on a slow loop (every few seconds is plenty — no need to do it every frame).

A few useful companion natives:

SetOverrideWeather('FOGGY')   -- forces a weather on top of the system
ClearOverrideWeather()        -- hands control back to the normal cycle
SetRainLevel(0.0)             -- manual rain intensity (0.0 to 1.0)
SetWind(0.0)                  -- kills the wind
SetWindSpeed(0.0)

Mind server authority: these natives are client-side. If every player applies their own weather, everyone sees something different. A serious server does the opposite — the server decides the weather and broadcasts it to clients, which merely apply it. That’s what weather sync scripts (weathersync and friends) are for, and it’s also why a player should never be able to trigger a global weather change from their client.

For an admin command, the standard shape stays: command registered server-side, permission check, validate the received value against the whitelist below, then broadcast to clients.

Full weather type list

Identifiers are uppercase strings. This list is what your whitelist should contain if you expose a command.

Identifier	What you get
EXTRASUNNY	Bright sun, fully clear sky, hard light
CLEAR	Fair weather, softer than EXTRASUNNY
NEUTRAL	Neutral lighting, no strong mood (handy for debugging)
SMOG	Pollution haze, yellowed horizon
FOGGY	Thick fog, heavily reduced visibility
OVERCAST	Fully clouded sky, flat light
CLOUDS	Cloudy with sunny spells
CLEARING	Post-shower, roads still wet
RAIN	Steady rain, wet road
THUNDER	Thunderstorm, lightning, heavy rain
SNOW	Snow on the ground
BLIZZARD	Snowstorm, minimal visibility
SNOWLIGHT	Light snow
XMAS	Christmas mood (snow, winter dressing)
HALLOWEEN	Halloween mood

The snow types (SNOW, BLIZZARD, SNOWLIGHT, XMAS) are event conditions: the map isn’t built for year-round snow, and some textures or props don’t follow perfectly. Use them occasionally rather than as permanent weather.

Which weather to drive in?

This is where the choice becomes an actual gameplay parameter, not a matter of taste.

On dry roads (EXTRASUNNY, CLEAR), you get maximum grip and the best readability: braking distances are short, the car is predictable. It’s the reference condition for learning a line or comparing two cars — everything you feel comes from the car, not the surface.

In the rain (RAIN, THUNDER), wet ground cuts grip. In practice: the rear steps out earlier, braking distances stretch, and a brutal correction spins you fast. It’s not all downside — it’s also the condition where drifting initiates most easily, since the rear wheels need less to let go. You just have to anticipate earlier and modulate the throttle more finely.

In fog (FOGGY, BLIZZARD), the problem isn’t grip any more but draw distance. You discover corners late, which heavily punishes raw speed and rewards whoever knows the map by heart.

At night, headlight range becomes the main constraint. Fine on the freeway, much less so in back alleys.

In a car chase, these effects don’t hit both sides equally. Reduced visibility favours the runner: it’s easier to disappear into fog or darkness than to follow someone you can’t see any more. Conversely, dry roads and broad daylight favour the hunter, who keeps visual contact and can cut lines. That’s another reason a competitive server doesn’t leave weather to chance.

Weather on Chased

On Chased, the chase runs 1v1 in an isolated match, with identical conditions for both players: same balanced vehicle, same environment. The idea is simple — if you lose, it’s neither the car nor the weather, it’s the driving.

It’s also what separates a serious driving server from the rest — see how to spot a good car-chase or drift server.

Not installed yet? See how to install FiveM for GTA 5 Enhanced, and check your PC specs before you jump in.