The Sims 4 Weather, Climate, And Seasons Explained

It may be tough to believe, but The Sims 4 was out for four entire years without seasons, weather, or holidays. That changed, finally, when the Seasons expansion pack dropped in 2018--and it's been considered the single-most essential expansion for The Sims 4 since. If you're just diving into the worlds of The Sims 4, Seasons is the first pack you need to buy.

While it's not the most feature-packed expansion in terms of how much stuff there is to do in it, Seasons makes two fundamental additions to the world that we can't imagine living without: dynamic weather, with each world having its own unique climate; and holidays, including the ability to make your own. Let's look closer at the weather first.

Basic Sims 4 weather tips

The very first thing to keep in mind about weather in The Sims 4 is that it can have extreme consequences if you aren't careful. Extreme hot or cold can kill your sims--they can freeze to death if they don't wear a coat during a blizzard, or they can overheat themselves by exercising too much or hanging out near a fire when it's really hot (I've literally had a sim die because the fireplace was lit in their house during a heat wave). Likewise, if they spend too much time outside during a storm they might get struck by lightning. So be careful.

Beyond dressing and behaving appropriately for the weather, there are lifetime aspiration reward perks you can unlock that will help your sims deal with these effects. There are acclimation perks for hot and cold weather (500 points each) that will allow your sim to feel the effects of the extreme temperatures without being in danger from them, and you can take things all the way with the Heatproof and Iceproof perks (2000 points each) to avoid the issue entirely. The Storm Chaser perk (1000 points), which makes a sim enjoy thunderstorms rather than be scared of them, will actually make your sim more likely to be struck by lightning, but it will simply make them energized when it happens instead of causing any harm.

How to change the weather in The Sims 4

Fortunately, you are not at all at the game's mercy when it comes to weather, as you can change the local weather whenever you want using Dr. June's Weather Control Device, which you can buy for 1500 simoleons in build mode. Once it's placed in your home, just click the device and pick the weather you want.

How to use cheats and mods with Sims 4 weather

In a rather unusual twist, there aren't any working weather-related cheats in The Sims 4--there used to be console commands, but they don't work anymore for some reason. But if you're playing The Sims 4 on PC, you can use a Sims 4 mod to restore those cheats. Fortunately, it's a mod you may already have, the immensely popular MC Command Center, which adds several utilities for granularly controlling your game world. Once you've installed the mod and have it running, you can click on any mailbox, select the MC Cheats option to open the MCCC menu, then select Seasons for all your weather-related choices.

Sims 4 Worlds and Climates

Just as on the real Earth, each region in The Sims 4 has its own climate and range of temperatures--some places are hot, some places are cold, and some places get the full spectrum of weather. Below is a description of the climate in each Sims 4 world.

Willow Creek

Base game

Willow Creek has a climate that experiences the full range of the seasons, with very hot summers and very cold, snowy winters, with frequent precipitation all year.

Oasis Springs

Base game

This desert locale is dry year-round, and it never gets cold--watch out for those summer heat waves.

Newcrest

Base game

A temperate world, Newcrest experiences the full breadth of all four seasons, with warm and rainy summers and cool winters, and a chance of extreme temperatures.

Magnolia Promenade

Get to Work

This commercial area has the same climate as Newcrest.

Windenberg

Get Together

This Europe-inspired region has occasionally hot summers, and snowy, blizzard-filled winters.

San Myshuno

City Living

This pastiche of major cities from around the world has a climate similar to New York City--very hot summers, very cold winters, and plenty of precipitation year-round.

Forgotten Hollow

Vampires

This gloomy, sunless region is temperate, with temperatures ranging from hot to cold without usually going into the extremes on either end.

Brindleton Bay

Cats & Dogs

The pets region experiences the full range of temperatures and precipitation, but is less likely to get stormy than other regions with that sort of climate.

Del Sol Valley

Get Famous

Based on Los Angeles, Del Sol Valley has a warm, but not hot, climate for most of the year, with moderately cool winters that occasionally bring rain.

StrangerVille

StrangerVille

This desert region stays hot pretty much year-round, with extremely hot summers in particular, and occasionally gets some rainfall during the warm winters.

Sulani

Island Living

This Pacific-inspired region stays warm throughout the year, and is one of the only worlds to experience monsoons, which functionally are just more extreme thunderstorms. But, like Del Sol Valley, it never gets extremely hot.

Glimmerbrook

Realm of Magic

Glimmerbrook experiences very mild summers, and frosty winters that make this magical area particularly cool to wander around in.

Britechester

Discover University

This college town has a fairly standard climate that experiences all four seasons, with temperate summers and occasionally freezing winters, with precipitation common year-round.

Evergreen Harbor

Eco Lifestyle

Based on cities in the USA's Pacific Northwest like Portland, Evergreen Harbor is a temperate region with warm summers and cool winters--but it rarely experiences extreme temperatures or weather.

Mt. Komorebi

Snowy Escape

It's cold and snowy year-round in this mountain town, with frequent blizzards during the winter.

Henford-on-Bagley

Cottage Living

This rural British-style town experiences the weather cycle of all four seasons, including thunderstorms in the summer and snow in the winter, but temperature extremes are very rare.

Tartosa

My Wedding Stories

This Mediterranean area is always temperate and rarely has any weather other than general windiness and occasional rainstorms.

Moonwood Mill

Werewolves

This Twilight-ish small town is temperate during every season but winter, which brings snowfall and cold temperatures.

Copperdale

High School Years

You won't see a significant range of temperatures in this town, but you will see a lot of rain, as Copperdale is one of the stormiest of the worlds of The Sims 4.

San Sequoia

Growing Together

The Sims 4's loose interpretation of the San Francisco Bay Area is warm, but not hot, most of the year, and experiences very mild winters without snow. Rainfall is pretty common year-round, however.

Chestnut Ridge

Horse Ranch

This desert-style region experiences mild temperatures year round, with occasional snowfall in the winter and rain the rest of the year.

Tomarang

For Rent

This tropical region is usually hot and frequently rainy--and, like Sulani, it can experience monsoons. Even in the winter it won't get cold.

Ciudad Enamora

Lovestruck

Very similar climate to Tomarang, including the possibility of monsoons.

Ravenwood

Life and Death

There's not much in the way of weather in Ravenwood, where it never gets particularly hot or cold and precipitation is rare.

Nordhaven

Businesses & Hobbies

This world experiences the full cycle of seasonal changes, but summers are mild and winters are decidedly not, with snow and freezing temperatures fairly common.

Granite Falls

Outdoor Retreat

This forest world is a rare area that has it all, from the hottest summers to the coldest winters. Rain isn't all that common, but watch out for those blizzards in the winter.

Selvadorada

Jungle Adventure

This world is always hot, with occasional rainstorms

Batuu

Journey to Batuu

This Star Wars-themed world, which is more or less based on Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland, has no weather cycle at all.