(created by Jakaria)

Software

Creating weather effects requires a good text editor (I recommend Notepad++)

Example Mod

You can download an example mod here, open the WeatherEffects.sbc
You should see this:

Effects

These properties will not affect survival gameplay and should be mostly visual/auditory.

<Id>
    <TypeId>WeatherEffectDefinition</TypeId>
    <SubtypeId>MarsStormHeavy</SubtypeId>
Name of weather used in command and admin menu
</Id>
<Name>Sandstorm</Name>
Name shown on Weather LCD panel script
<Public>true</Public>
Should this weather be shown in the command menu?
<FogColor> Color of fog
    <X>0.7725</X> Red (0.0, 1.0)
    <Y>0.4775</Y> Green (0.0, 1.0)
    <Z>0.26</Z> Blue (0.0, 1.0)
</FogColor>
<FogDensity>0.04</FogDensity>
Density of Fog (0.0, 1.0)
<FogMultiplier>1</FogMultiplier>
Thickness of Fog (0.0, 1.0)
<FogSkyboxMultiplier>1</FogSkyboxMultiplier>
How much fog affects the skybox (0.0, 1.0)
<FogAtmoMultiplier>1</FogAtmoMultiplier>
How much fog affects the atmosphere (0.0, 1.0)
<AmbientSound>WM_Sandstorm</AmbientSound>
Sound effect to play
<AmbientVolume>0.55</AmbientVolume>
Volume of sound effect
<EffectName>WM_MarsStormHeavy</EffectName>
Name of particle affect to create
<ParticleRadius>125</ParticleRadius>
Radius around camera to create particles
<ParticleCount>12</ParticleCount>
Amount of particle emitters
<ParticleScale>1</ParticleScale>
Scale of particles
<FoliageWindModifier>3.0</FoliageWindModifier>
Multiplier for trees/bushes wind
<ParticleAlphaMultiplier>0.35</ParticleAlphaMultiplier>
Transparency multiplier of particles
<SunColor> Color of sunlight
    <X>1</X> Red (0.0, 1.0)
    <Y>1</Y> Green (0.0, 1.0)
    <Z>1</Z> Blue (0.0, 1.0)
</SunColor>
<SunSpecularColor> Color of sunlight reflections
<X>1</X> Red (0.0, 1.0)
<Y>1</Y> Green (0.0, 1.0)
<Z>1</Z> Blue (0.0, 1.0)
</SunSpecularColor>
<SunIntensity>0.05</SunIntensity>
Intensity of sunlight
<ShadowFadeout>0.01</ShadowFadeout>
Intensity of shadows

Survival Values

With the new weather system that was released in 1.195, a large amount of changes of the weather effects themselves came too, most notably for suvival. lightning was opened up to modding with a large amount of values you can change, although it’s recommended not to make large alterations.
The new modifier/multipliers all serve a large role in how each weather effect acts in survival.

WindOutputModifier is a multiplier for wind speed, affecting only wind turbines. SolarOutputModifier is a multiplier for solar panels and oxygen farms. TemperatureModifier affects the character’s external suit temperature. OxygenLevelModifier affects character’s external suit pressure, wind turbine efficiency, and vents. You can use it to make the air toxic with low oxygen!

<LightningIntervalMin>5</LightningIntervalMin>
Minimum length between next lightning created in seconds
<LightningIntervalMax>10</LightningIntervalMax>
Maximum length between next lightning created in seconds
<LightningCharacterHitIntervalMin>1000</LightningCharacterHitIntervalMin>
Minimum length between next character lightning created in seconds
<LightningCharacterHitIntervalMax>3000</LightningCharacterHitIntervalMax>
Maximumlength between next character lightning created in seconds
<LightningGridHitIntervalMin>1000</LightningGridHitIntervalMin>
Minimum length between next grid lightning created in seconds
<LightningGridHitIntervalMax>2000</LightningGridHitIntervalMax>
Minimum length between next grid lightning created in seconds
<Lightning>
    <MaxLife>7</MaxLife>
    How long lightning lives in ticks (60 ticks per second)
    <BoltLength>2000</BoltLength>
    Length/Height of lightning bolt in meters
    <BoltParts>50</BoltParts>
    How many parts/seperations of lightning
    <BoltVariation>70</BoltVariation>
    Jitteriness of lightning in meters
    <BoltRadius>40</BoltRadius>
    Radius of lightning bolt
    <Damage>80</Damage>
    How much lightning damages
    <Sound>WM_Lightning</Sound>
    Sound effect the lightning makes
    <Color> Color of lightning
        <X>100</X> Red
        <Y>40</Y> Green
        <Z>5</Z> Blue
        <W>1000</W> Alpha
    </Color>
    <ExplosionRadius>2</ExplosionRadius>
    Radius/Size of explosion in meters
</Lightning>
<WindOutputModifier>2.5</WindOutputModifier>
Multiplier for wind speed
<SolarOutputModifier>0.1</SolarOutputModifier>
Multiplier for solar output
<TemperatureModifier>2</TemperatureModifier>
Multiplier for temperature
<OxygenLevelModifier>0.25</OxygenLevelModifier>
Multiplier for oxygen pressure

Thanks for reading this guide, I hope it helps you create a good weather effect. If you’d like to create an automatic weather system, continue here.