GTA 6 will have hurricanes and tropical storms: this is Leonida's new weather

Rockstar confirms to Game Informer localised storms, clouds rolling across the map, puddles that stay after the rain, rainbows and, as in the real Florida, tropical storms and hurricanes.

Florida's weather is part of its identity: postcard sunshine in the morning, a storm mid-afternoon and, between June and November, the threat of hurricanes. Rockstar wanted Leonida to have all of that, and it is one of the main reveals in Game Informer's cover story, published on 29 September.

Local weather that leaves a mark

Owen Shepherd, Rockstar's vice president of art for lighting and rendering, puts it like this, as quoted by VGC:

"We have re-engineered our weather system to make everything much more localized and persistent, and really wanted the world to feel dynamically solid and achieve a sense of scale we haven't felt before."

In practice, according to Game Informer itself:

• Clouds that genuinely move across the map and create all kinds of weather, from clear skies to overcast days.
• Localised storms: you can stand somewhere dry and sunny and watch it pour down in the distance.
• Rain leaves a trace: drive to that spot after the storm passes and you can tell it just rained, with puddles and wet surfaces.
• Rainbows after a shower, if the light is right.

Shepherd also describes the range of skies they were after, from "the clear blue skies of a Miami winter" to the towering cumulonimbus clouds with sporadic lightning that you see most afternoons in a Floridian summer and autumn.

Tropical storms and hurricanes

Florida gets tropical storms and hurricanes every season, and so does Leonida. That is what Rockstar has confirmed. When they arrive, according to Shepherd's description published by IGN, there are heavy clouds, strong winds, dense atmospherics and a lot of rain: everything drips, water gushes off roof edges and lampposts, thunder rumbles and lightning lights up the clouds.

What we don't know yet, and the magazine admits it: how often these storms happen and how they affect gameplay or the story. Nobody has said whether there will be flooding, damage or missions tied to a hurricane. For now, anything on that is speculation.

Wind matters too

According to RockstarINTEL's summary of the story, there is a new wind system with offshore breezes, rising convection currents and buildings that block the wind. That wind moves hair, debris, the surface of the water and vegetation.

An evolution of Red Dead Redemption 2's weather

Rockstar presents it as an evolution of Red Dead Redemption 2's system, which already had dynamic clouds and believable weather changes, not as the same system with a new coat of paint. What's new is mainly that weather is local and leaves a mark on the world.

The real Florida

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from 1 June to 30 November. GTA 6 launches on 19 November, so it reaches shops as the real season is about to end. Florida knows these storms well: in 2022, Hurricane Ian made landfall in the south-west of the state as a Category 4, and it is one of the most destructive the region remembers.

FAQ

Will GTA 6 have hurricanes?

Yes. Rockstar has confirmed to Game Informer that Leonida will have tropical storms and hurricanes, like the real Florida.

Does the weather affect gameplay?

We don't know. Rockstar hasn't said how often storms happen or what effect they have on the game or the story.

Is it the same system as Red Dead Redemption 2?

No. It is an evolution of it, re-engineered so weather is local and persistent: it can rain in one area and not another, and rain leaves puddles that stay.