Funnel Runners Weather Survival Guide
Hold an Umbrella for acid rain or hail; a Raincoat does not cover hail. For lightning, hold a Portable Conductor—not an Umbrella. Move away from nearby tornado winds or collapsing cover; gear is not an escape plan.
Match the current danger to your gear, then check when to retreat and what protection does not cover.
Storms & Weather: Quick Responses
Find the danger you can see or read on the radar. Start with the response, then check its protection and limits. Fire and fallen wires have separate guidance below.
Rain storm
Favor short, covered trips. If Drenched appears, reduce exposure and let that status clear under cover or with rain protection.
- Recognize
- Rain streaks obscure the view; the Doppler Status Report names the forming or active storm.
- Protection
- An equipped Umbrella or an activated Raincoat helps with rain exposure.
- Limit
- Drenched makes electrical hazards more dangerous. A rain counter does not remove fallen wires or tornado risk.
Acid rain
Hold an Umbrella or activate a Raincoat before an exposed trip. Without protection, move under intact overhead cover rather than continuing an open search.
- Recognize
- The radar names an acid storm; pale green vapor rises where the rain hits the ground.
- Protection
- Umbrella protection or the Raincoat's temporary Waterproof effect counters acid-rain exposure.
- Limit
- A roof must still be intact. Acid protection does not make a collapsing building safe.
Hail storm
Use a held Umbrella for exposed movement or move under intact overhead cover. If neither is available, stop the open looting trip.
- Recognize
- Dark chunks of ice fall with the rain; the radar identifies a hail storm.
- Protection
- The Umbrella counters hail while equipped. Check that your protection is active before carrying on.
- Limit
- The Raincoat entry explicitly says it does not protect against hail. Do not carry that acid-rain plan over to this storm.
Electric storm
Avoid long exposed searches. If crossing outside, equip and hold a Portable Conductor; check it after a strike because it can break.
- Recognize
- Visible lightning, loud thunder and an electric-storm entry in the radar's Status Report.
- Protection
- A held Portable Conductor protects against a lightning strike.
- Limit
- An Umbrella increases strike risk. Neither the conductor nor an arbitrary roof is a promise of safety from every electrical or storm hazard.
Nearby tornado
Move away from the approaching danger toward viable cover. Crouching can make you harder to pull, but leave structures that are visibly breaking apart.
- Recognize
- A loud nearby gust, growing wind effects, or dust and shaking as a building takes damage. Radar reports can also show a turn.
- Protection
- Distance and reassessed shelter matter; crouching is a partial response, not immunity.
- Limit
- A tornado can redirect. A parked van or a building is not a permanent answer to the final F5; prepare to escape instead of waiting it out.
When to Stop Looting and Head Back
The storm no longer matches your equipment
If acid rain or hail is damaging you without the right protection, stop the exposed search and move under intact overhead cover. For lightning, shorten exposed travel and use the conductor response; do not assume the same Umbrella plan still works.
Wind or destruction reaches your route
A nearby gust, strengthening wind effects, shaking, dust or falling pieces are reasons to reassess immediately. Move away from the danger and from actively collapsing structures; crouching is not a reason to stay beside them.
The final F5 warning becomes urgent
When the compass indicator turns red and tornado sirens sound, stop optional looting and prioritize the van requirements and departure. Do not plan to survive the final F5 by waiting in a parked van or another shelter.
Weather Gear: Protection & Limits
Check both the useful effect and its limit before leaving cover. An item in your inventory is not the same as a held item or an active status.
Umbrella
A precipitation counter that can be the wrong choice in a thunderstorm.
- Use
- Equip and hold it for exposed travel; merely carrying it in inventory is not the plan.
- Covers
- Rain exposure, acid rain and hail. Watch the Rain Protection status when changing what you hold.
- Limit
- Holding an Umbrella during an Electric Storm increases lightning-strike risk. It is not tornado protection.
Raincoat
Temporary rain and acid protection, not protection from falling ice.
- Use
- Use the Raincoat to activate Waterproof, then keep track of that temporary status.
- Covers
- Acid rain and becoming drenched, as described in the Raincoat entry.
- Limit
- It does not protect against hail. When Waterproof expires, reassess exposure rather than assuming the effect is permanent.
Portable Conductor
Hold it for lightning; keep a separate plan for wires, fences and fire.
- Use
- Equip and hold it during exposed movement in an Electric Storm. Check whether it survived each strike.
- Covers
- Lightning strikes while held; the item can break when struck.
- Limit
- It does not protect against fallen live wires or electric fences. Do not let a lightning-protection status override those route hazards.
Rubber Boots
A Great Plains mud aid, with a different job from storm-protection gear.
- Use
- Use the boots to activate the temporary Steady Footing effect before a muddy route.
- Covers
- Slipping in mud and the Muddy status, according to the boots entry.
- Limit
- This use is mud protection. Electrical protection remains unconfirmed; plan lightning precautions separately.
Shelter, Fire & Fallen Wires
Overhead cover is for precipitation exposure
An intact roof can reduce direct acid-rain or hail exposure. It is not a guarantee against lightning, tornado pull or collapse. Avoid buildings with active destruction dust, falling pieces or a roof that is already breaking apart.
A parked van is not the same as a started escape
Broken door controls can leave the doors unusable, and broken outriggers affect the stabilization legs. The October HOTFIX #0.13.1 protects players already inside after the van has successfully started its escape; that statement does not make every parked-van situation safe.
New tornado variants change the route problem
Patch #014 describes Multi-Vortex funnels with unpredictable suction paths and Fire Tornadoes that move faster and ignite their path. Reassess nearby cover and routes instead of expecting a regular funnel's behavior.
Fire near the route
Back away until the burning status can clear. Keep away from teammates while burning rather than bringing the effect into the group.
- Recognize
- Burning objects, a fiery screen edge, or the On Fire! status.
- Protection
- Route around the source and reassess nearby cover; an item that counters rain is not a fire plan.
- Limit
- Current official notes also describe power lines igniting crops and Fire Tornadoes spreading fire. Do not assume every fire came only from lightning.
Fallen live wire
Go around the cable instead of stepping over its sparking end. Recheck the route after nearby poles or structures collapse.
- Recognize
- A fallen cable with sparks and crackling at its active end.
- Protection
- Avoid contact. A Portable Conductor does not protect against live-wire shock.
- Limit
- Patch #014 also removed the conductor's unintended protection against electric fences. Do not treat it as general electrical immunity.
Guide Scope & Version Notes
Storms, nearby hazards and gear limits. Follow the current in-game prompts and the limits below. This page covers the task named above, not every possible failure or game system.
What this page does not promise
- Use the current game's task, control and protection-status feedback if it differs from the guidance here.
- No fixed storm timer, spawn prediction, safe coordinate, damage table or universal immunity is provided. Uniform effects are not compared here because the descriptions are incomplete or conflicting.
- This is not a bunker-unlock route, complete hazard encyclopedia, or real-world severe-weather safety guide.