Weather is just one of many, many variables affecting a player in DayZ Standalone. It can change rather suddenly as well, just as it may in real life. Most notably, it effects your personal level of humidity, which can in turn have effects on the health of your person, such as your temperature.
Weather in the game is constantly evolving, so this page may change over time.
Although the weather in Chernarus can be unpredictable at times, rarely does it change suddenly, and it generally stays consistent through the course of a day as it does in real life. There are many factors that go into the current weather situation you may find yourself in, including (but not limited to): precipitation, cloud density, and time of day.
Precipitation (Rain)
Rain in Chernarus has predictable effects on the player. As it rains, the player will become progressively more wet, usually at a fairly rapid pace. There are three stages of "wetness" (humidity): damp, wet, and soaked. In order to prevent becoming [more] wet, a player should seek shelter or tree cover from the rain. This obviously poses a practicality problem, however, as staying dry and travelling are counter to each other. Luckily, short bursts of exposure (such as running from building-to-building) have little effect on the humidity level of the player. Prolonged exposure is necessary to become wet.
As the humidity level of the player rises, the player's temperature may drop, which in turn can cause you to become ill or contract an infection.
Solutions for lowering a player's humidity level include (but are not limited to):
- Changing clothes. This may require you to find new clothing.
- Stay inside. If you are inside, you are no longer getting wet, and your humidity level will gradually decrease.
- Light a fire. Fires will help dry you (and your clothing).
Cloud Density
This particular factor has little effect on the player in a direct sense, but it does change the level of light being cast on the ground just as in real life. Therefore cloud density has an effect on visibility regardless of precipitation or time of day.
Time of Day
Just as with cloud density, time of day can have a profound effect on visibility. Generally speaking, night and day are of roughly equal lengths of time in a given day cycle. As it gets past the point of sunset, darkness will become a problem for anyone who does not have a portable source of light with them such as a handheld flashlight, weapon-mounted flashlight, head-mounted flash light, or portable gas lamp.
Notes
[1] Your Shadows setting affects how the rain is rendered. If it is set to Disabled, Very Low or Low you will likely see rain inside buildings. If it is set to Normal or above you should not see rain inside buildings.
References
1. https://twitter.com/rocket2guns/status/434019818874753024