But there are definitely some improvements that could be made that would instantly make it ten times better. And you can find some incredible mods out there that overhaul weather while traversing through the plains and mountains and everywhere else in Skyrim. There are countless mods that tweak the environment, but finding mods that are specifically good for the weather can be tricky. So I’ve created this list to help you find the highest quality weather mod and help you decide which ones are best for your game. Note these are all totally free to download and try so if you install a mod you don’t like just deactivate and try another one. Let’s dive in!
15. Expanded Skyrim Weather
Check Out This Mod Expanded Skyrim Weather claims to be a simple mod. And even though in theory it is, the way it was made allows the game to feel much more realistic as a whole. This mod reinvents the way Skyrim’s climate works by making tweaks to the environment’s processing of every region of the game. For example, coasts now have more clouds and less sun. The mod also adds more fog to areas that desperately needed it to make it look far more realistic, such as mountains and forests. So this doesn’t just change the weather in the sky; it affects the whole climate everywhere you go.
14. Alternate Sun Glare
Check Out This Mod There are lots of mods that change the way the sun glares. After all, the original Bethesda design leaves some room for improvement and it could definitely do with a tweak or two. And modders quickly picked up on it creating some fancy-looking sun glare changes. The problem is that most of the changes made by the community have resulted in an overly bright sun, which can feel annoying to face when in game. As such, Alternate Sun Glare aims to offer the realism of other sun glare mods without you having to feel invaded by the new sunlight. It mimics the realism of the sun without blinding you with its light. A happy middle ground.
13. Natural Skyrim Rain
Check Out This Mod Have you ever felt like the rain in Skyrim is just too plain and doesn’t feel realistic? Then this mod is the fix for all your problems. Well, at least your Skyrim rain problems. It changes the way rain sounds in the game and it also makes it look more realistic than it does in vanilla Skyrim. The mod completely retextures and overhauls rain by making it much more accurate when compared to real falling raindrops, and depending on the severity of the rain(ie. downpours vs a light sprinkling). And this adds a foggy environmental change to the world whenever it rains. You know the mist that water often generates, especially after a storm? Well this mod adds it to Skyrim. And it looks really good!
12. Solstheim Climate Overhaul
Check Out This Mod Those of you who own the Solstheim DLC probably want to see a bit more vividness around the lands you’re exploring. This mod completely updates the way you see Solstheim by adding many new climate tweaks to the areas that make up the region. It’s just one more major addition to this incredible DLC pack that, at least in my opinion, is one of the better DLCs for this game.
11. Real Skyrim Snowflakes
Check Out This Mod Now I’ll admit up front: this mod does take up a bit of your computer’s processing power so you do need plenty of graphics RAM to run it. But boy, does it look really good. In Skyrim, all of the snowflakes in the game aren’t special. In fact, they’re the exact opposite of that. They just form part of the environment and do nothing to interact with it. This mod, however, updates the way snowflakes work. Real Skyrim Snowflakes ensures that every single snowflake in the game is part of the world. Which means that you can physically interact with them! With this mod you’ll be able to see how light affects snowflakes and makes them light up whenever you hold up a torch nearby. Play around in snowy regions and see what you think.
10. Morning Fogs
Check Out This Mod Nothing makes a morning look more natural than a low-to-the-ground haze. As such, this mod adds some much needed morning fog between 4 am to 7 am. I feel like it adds that morning vibe to the game without really overdoing it. I didn’t check if there’s dew on the grass but that would be such a prime touch.
9. Expanded Snow System
Check Out This Mod Expanded Snow Systems adds more levels of depths to the game. This doesn’t make snow as realistic as the Real Skyrim Snowflakes mod mentioned above. But it does make snow look different depending on the weather and location where it’s snowing. Note: this does require the Climates of Tamriel mod installed(mentioned later in this list) as it basically expands what that mod already brings to the table. And to me it’s totally worth it. You’ll notice many mods on this list need Climates of Tamriel to work since many modders prefer to work on top of what’s already created. Kind of like how open source programmers like to work on top of existing libraries, it just makes stacking effects easier and more consistent.
8. Vivid Clouds and Fogs
Check Out This Mod This other mod(which is also compatible with Climates of Tamriel) makes clouds look so good that you’ll have doubts that you’re still playing a game. Fog also feels less bland and much more realistic. It might be pretty difficult for you to go back to vanilla clouds after trying out this mod. The difference that it makes really adds something else to the game, almost a night & day difference. Give it a try and see what you think. I have a feeling you will not be disappointed.
7. Supreme and Volumetric Fog
Check Out This Mod Do you feel like the fog in Skyrim just doesn’t feel like real fog? Are you a fan of snowy and heavily foggy environments? Then you’ve just found the best mod to give you what you need. This addition makes fog far more dense as well as voluminous everywhere in Skyrim. Which IMO perfectly suits the northern environments that Skyrim so symbolically recreates to perfection.
6. Vivid Weathers
Check Out This Mod This amazing mod combines all of the features that you find inside the Climates of Tamriel download, along with many of the other compatible mods that I’ve listed here The only reason why this doesn’t get a higher rank in my list is because it’s a compilation of other mods, rather than adding a bunch of new stuff to the table. This means it can be really bloaty and it may add a bunch of extra features that you just don’t want. I prefer to work à la carte by installing mods individually that I like, rather than grabbing big mod packs. That said, this is one of the better options out there. If you want to truly overhaul the way weather works in Skyrim, regardless of the size, this mod has it all.
5. Revamped Exterior Fog
Check Out This Mod Let’s face it: fog in Skyrim is one of the major issues that the game has in terms of visuals. It seems to make the farthest parts of the POV quite bland, which does nothing but kill a bit of the vibe that the game could otherwise offer. Revamped Exterior Fog aims to fix this by decreasing the saturation that fog has in the distance. This drastically improves the way things look when they’re far away, which also helps with gameplay so you can actually see what you’re running towards. It’s a simple change, I do admit. But the difference is noticeable at first glance. Install this mod and compare the way things look from afar – you’ll be pretty happy with the change.
4. Real Clouds
Check Out This Mod Now this doesn’t just make clouds look better; it also makes them feel like real clouds. The creator of the mod managed to achieve this by giving depth and dimension to the bland cloud textures that make up the majority of the game’s climate assets. With the Real Clouds mod you can instantly turn every cloud in Skyrim into 3D objects. Pretty cool right?
3. Supreme Storms
Check Out This Mod There’s nothing more anticlimactic than walking through a supposed heavy storm and being able to see stuff as if the rain was nothing more than a shallow sprinkling. Supreme Storms completely corrects this by making storms feel like real storms. You’ll struggle to see two feet in front of your face when walking through a blizzard. As it should be. The aim of this mod is to make you feel like you’re really living through that weather. It’s truly weather immersion at its finest. And I think it’s safe to say that this mod achieves its purpose quite diligently. The frustration I’ve felt playing with this makes the game much more in-depth, and a bit tougher. But that’s half the fun!
2. True Storms
Check Out This Mod With this other stormy mod you can also change up how bad weather works. But it doesn’t change the essence of storms that come with base-game Skyrim. It does enhance the way storms feel from a global perspective. They’ve managed to achieve this by adding new thunder sounds as well as better rain noises into the game. You’ll notice how everything sounds much more natural whenever it’s raining. That’s no accident. True Storms might not be the most complex mod on this list, but the small changes that it makes by adding more realistic sounds can make your Skyrim experience so much more immersive. I highly recommend it because it’s not a huge mod and it’s not a huge change; but the change that it does make will be noticeable right away.
1. Climates of Tamriel
Check Out This Mod Climates of Tamriel is one of the best climate overhauls that you can find for Skyrim, if not the single best out of them all. In fact, this mod is so big that it isn’t even considered a regular mod. It’s more like an entire overhaul to the system. It contains replacements for every single vanilla effect that the game has to offer including lighting, rain, snow, and many other particles that make up in-game weather. You can consider this mod to be an all-in-one that includes most of the changes that you can make to the game with other mods. But this one does it all without having to make any individual downloads. It also comes with a ton of features that you can personally tweak with a simple UI so it grants you far more control over your gameplay. Making Skyrim feel like your own game completely!
