Forza Horizon 5 will add two new weather effects: tropical storms and dust storms

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Are you ready to chase down a tropical storm?

Forza Horizon 5
(Image credit: Playground Games)

Forza Horizon 5 will have dynamic weather like never before in the series, including two new weather effects: tropical storms and dust storms. And if you crave the adrenaline rush of almost dying by way of gale-force winds, you'll be able to see the storms moving in and take part in some amateur storm chasing.  

The latest Forza Horizon 5 Let's Go episode featured Playground Games' lead lighting artist Lukas Koelz, art director Don Arceta, and senior lighting artist Adam Currey, who sat down for a deep dive into the game's dynamic weather and breathtaking skies. "Storm chasing was a big thing in our plans when we were starting the project," says Arceta. As such, you'll be able to see tropical storms and towering dust storms from a distance and approach it, which is a brand new feature in the Forza Horizon series. Both new weather features are seasonal, so expect tropical storms June through late November and towering dust storms during the dry season, which runs from mid-October to April. 

The Forza Horizon 5 team also brought some new footage showing off the new weather effects and how they appear on the, erm, horizon. If you're in the mood to test out your car's grip on slick pavement, you may want to drive into a storm, or if you want to avoid getting your new whip wet, you might want to drive away from it. 

And Forza Horizon 5 weather will be regional, so if you're in the desert you'll get the occasional light sprinkle of rain, but will experience downpours in the jungle. You'll be able to drive to get the kind of weather that best suits your mood.

The Forza Horizon 5 Lets Go also goes into details about the dynamic skies Playground Games creates thanks to their impressive 12K capture process. The team captured real sky capture with a rig on location, something the devs have done since Forza Horizon 3 - except this time they were working with a brand new rig that features three separate medium-format cameras mounted on an adjustable tripod. The cameras each captured a third of the sky in 8K, and Playground stitched the three separate pictures together to create the tapestry of the Mexican skies.

Forza Horizon 5 looks ready to wow us with its dynamic weather and impressive horizons when it releases November 9 on Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, and PC - all via Xbox Game Pass. 

Forza Horizon 5 was voted the most anticipated game of E3 2021.

Alyssa Mercante
Alyssa Mercante

Alyssa Mercante used to be a features writer at GamesRadar and is now a freelance writer and editor. Prior to entering the industry, she got her Masters's degree in Modern and Contemporary Literature at Newcastle University with a dissertation focusing on contemporary indie games. She spends most of her time playing competitive shooters and in-depth RPGs and was recently on a PAX Panel about the best bars in video games. In her spare time Alyssa rescues cats, practices her Italian, and plays soccer.