GTA 6 to feature hurricanes, localised storms and lingering rainbows
Rain will fall on one street in GTA 6 while another stays dry. Hurricanes will soak the city, then leave rainbows behind.
Rockstar Games has re-engineered its weather system for the game to be more localised and persistent. Owen Shepherd, the studio's vice president of art for lighting and rendering, told Game Informer the goal was to make the world feel dynamically solid and achieve a sense of scale not felt before.
GTA 6 is scheduled for release on 19 November 2026 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, according to Eurogamer. Those are the current-generation consoles from Sony and Microsoft. No PC date has been announced.
The new system is built around fully dynamic cloudscapes that roll across the map. Weather ranges from the clear blue skies of a Miami winter to towering cumulonimbus clouds, the tall storm clouds that build on hot afternoons. That heavy build-up, with sporadic lightning, is seen most afternoons in Floridian summer and autumn.
Localised weather means a shower can pour over a different area while the player remains dry. Storms also leave traces after they pass. Wet pavements and puddles persist once the rain subsides. Rainbows can be spotted following a fresh shower under the right lighting conditions.
Hurricanes and tropical storms are part of the mix. Shepherd described hurricanes and thunderstorms as a combination of heavy clouds, strong winds, dense atmospherics and a lot of rain. Everything is left dripping wet. Water gushes off roof edges and lampposts. Thunder rumbles and lightning flashes light up the clouds.
What makes this stand out for players is how long weather hangs around. It is not only what falls from the sky, but what it leaves on the street. The map itself is twice as large as the map in GTA 5, according to Video Games Chronicle, so those systems have more ground to cross.
Game Informer published its exclusive interview on the tropical storms and hurricanes on 29 September 2026. More detail on how storms affect missions and movement has not been announced.
