Pokemon Sword and Shield weather guide

Paul Cot
Pokemon Company/Gamers Heroes/Game Rant

The weather plays a vital role in Pokemon Sword and Shield, from how effective your Pokemon are to which species you can find in the wild. Here’s everything you need to know about it and even how to change the weather.

First introduced in Gen 2, weather has become an increasingly important in Pokemon games. Certain weather conditions will boost moves of a specific type, meaning you can give yourself a big advantage if you choose the appropriate Pokemon.

Let’s be honest, though, the battles in Pokemon Sword and Shield are fairly easy. We haven’t seen a single complaint yet that the game was too difficult to complete. You can easily go through the entirety of the game without worrying about what the weather is in a particular battle.

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BeardBearThe Heavy Fog weather condition in Pokemon Sword and Shield…

How to change weather?

Trainers are taking note of the weather in Pokemon Sword and Shield because some species only come out in particular conditions. So, if you’re to complete the Pokedex (the most challenging part of Pokemon Sword and Shield) then you will need to explore Galar come rain or shine.

It is the rarer species that are restricted to particular weather and in some cases the wild is the only place to find them. For example, Mimikyu only spawns in Heavy Fog.

This means between weather cycles you could be waiting a while to get the one you want. Fortunately though, you won’t need to sit through sunshine, rain, snow and whatever else just to get Thunderstorm conditions.

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There’s a very useful trick you can use to manually change the weather. All you need to do is change the date in your Nintendo Switch settings. Each weather condition can be initiated by changing the date to the following:

  • Heavy Fog: June 1, 2020
  • Intense Sun: July 1, 2020
  • Hail: February 1, 2020
  • Normal Weather: May 1, 2020
  • Overcast: March 1, 2020
  • Raining: October 1, 2020
  • Sandstorm: April 1, 2020
  • Snowing: December 1, 2020
  • Snowstorm: February 1, 2020
  • Thunderstorm: November 1, 2020
BeardBearThe screen to manually adjust the time an date within your Nintendo Switch…

The weather conditions roughly correspond to seasons (i.e. snow in December) but if you forget them you can use the above for reference.

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Pokemon that only spawn in one weather condition

Some Pokemon only spawn in one weather condition. So, rather than searching for a particular species hours on end with no chance of finding them, here’s a handy list for you:

  • Aegislash: Heavy Fog
  • Beartic: Snowing
  • Bergmite: Snowing
  • Blipbug: Normal Weather
  • Bonsly: Sandstorm
  • Chinchou: Thunderstorm
  • Clefairy/Clefable: Heavy Fog
  • Combee/Vespiquen: Normal Weather
  • Corsola: Overcast
  • Cottonee: Overcast
  • Deino: Raining
  • Drampa: Thundetstorm
  • Durant: Intense Sun
  • Falinks: Overcast
  • Farfetch’d: Overcast
  • Gothita/Gothorita/Gothitelle: Heavy Fog
  • Goomy: Raining
  • Gossifleur: Normal Weather
  • Growlithe/Arcanine: Intense Sun
  • Hakamo-o: Thunderstorm
  • Hatenna: Heavy Fog
  • Heatmor: Intense Sun
  • Helioptile: Thunderstorm
  • Hippowdon: Sandstorm
  • Hitmonchan: Overcast
  • Hitmonlee: Overcast
  • Hitmontop: Overcast
  • Indeedee: Heavy Fog
  • Joltik: Thunderstorm
  • Kirlia: Heavy Fog
  • Lampent/Chandelure: Intense Sun
  • Lucario: Normal Weather
  • Manectric: Thunderstorm
  • Maractus: Intense Sun
  • Mareanie: Thunderstorm
  • Mawile: Snowing
  • Meowstic: Heavy Fog
  • Milcery: Heavy Fog
  • Milotic: Heavy Fog
  • Mime Jr/Mr. Mime: Snowing
  • Mimikyu: Heavy Fog
  • Morelull: Heavy Fog
  • Morpeko: Thunderstorm
  • Munchlax: Normal Weather
  • Musharna: Heavy Fog
  • Pawniard: Snowstorm
  • Pupitar: Sandstorm
  • Pyukumuku: Thunderstorm
  • Riolu: Snowing
  • Rookidee: Overcast
  • Sableye: Heavy Fog
  • Salandit: Intense Sun
  • Sawk/Throh: Overcast
  • Sliggoo: Thunderstorm
  • Snom: Snowing
  • Solosis/Duosion/Reuniclus: Heavy Fog
  • Steenee: Normal Weather
  • Togedemaru: Snowstorm
  • Togetic/Togekiss: Heavy Fog
  • Torkoal: Intense Sun
  • Toxicroak: Overcast
  • Trapinch: Sandstorm
  • Turtonator: Intense Sun
  • Vulpix/Ninetales: Intense Sun
  • Weavile: Snowing
  • Yamper: Thunderstorm

All there’s left to do now is enjoy Pokemon Sword and Shield in all the different seasons it has to offer!