Pokemon Sword and Shield have a huge map with beautiful sceneries to add to the appeasement. Areas may have different weather at times. Weather plays an important role in the game by attracting specific Pokemon to that specific weather. This Pokemon Sword and Shield Weather guide will show you how you can change the weather at will and detail you on exactly what each symbol means.
Pokemon Sword and Shield Weather Symbols
To find these “Symbols”, open your map and press the + button which will reveal the weather in every location. Under the right weather conditions, in wild areas, you might be able to find some strong and powerful Pokemon.
Each weather symbol on your map represents a type of weather. There are 9 different weather conditions; Snow, Thunderstorm, Rain, Cloudy, Sunny, Clear, Snowstorm, Sandstorm, and Fog.
Change Weather
There is no way you can change the weather in the game itself. It is dependent on the date and time set in your Nintendo Switch. Weather can vary drastically in between each area. One may have one weather while the other may have something entirely different.
Although you cannot set the weather from within the game, you can change the date and time of your console to achieve specific weather conditions.
You can change the weather Sword and Shield if you set the date to a particular time. But make sure you are a little far in the story before you try and tinker around with these options.
To achieve this, go to System Settings, then System, and then Date and Time. Uncheck the option to Synchronize the Clock via the internet. Now simply change the Date and Time to one of the ones mentioned below to achieve the desired weather. If you want to get a Sandstorm and Snowstorm, you should be done with the game at least 50 percent. And for fog, you will need to have completed the story.
The format for these dates is DD/MM/YY.
- Snow: 12/1/2020
- Thunderstorm: 11/1/2020
- Rain: 10/1/2020
- Cloudy: 3/1/2020
- Sunny: 7/1/2020
- Clear: 5/1/2020
- Snowstorm: 2/1/2020
- Sandstorm: 4/1/2020
- Fog: 6/1/2020
Weather Effect on Pokemon
If weather that makes your Pokemon happy is happening during a battle, your Pokemon will deal bonus damage to the enemy. Certain Pokemons can even change the weather into their favor which will boost their damage.
If you head to a camp with Pokemon who favor a certain type of weather, and that weather is happening, your Pokemon will be happier. Weather also has an impact on which Pokemon you can encounter inside Raid Dens.
| Type | Weather |
| Bug | Rain |
| Fairy | Cloudy |
| Electric | Rain or Thunderstorm |
| Dragon | Rain or Thunderstorm |
| Dark | Fog |
| Fighting | Cloudy |
| Fire | Sunny |
| Flying | Clear |
| Ghost | Fog / 8 PM to 6 AM |
| Grass | Clear |
| Ground | Sunny, Sandstorm |
| Ice | Snow or Hail |
| Normal | Clear |
| Poison | Cloudy |
| Psychic | Fog |
| Rock | Sunny or Sandstorm |
| Steel | Snow or Hail |
| Water | Rain or Thunderstorm |
With details on each weather and how to control it, you can better grasp on to exactly what YOU need to re-create to favor the conditions for your battles and explorations.
