Weather Systems in Skyrim - Elder Scrolls: Leftover Lore

Leftover Lore Ep.1: https://youtu.be/oTTZFS1i_YQ
Argonian Belly-Buttons: https://youtu.be/A82nhRZ9dh8
Leftover Lore Ep.3: https://youtu.be/2zSNK0kmPB4

Have you ever asked yourself, "Why isn't there snow in Solitude?"
This video attempts to answer that question using Skyrim's mechanical evidence, observing weather/climate systems in Tamriel, and some leftover lore on climates and "The Towers".

0:00 - Intro
0:28 - Mountain Shadow Effect
1:21 - Wind on Earth & Nirn
4:28 - Conditions for a warm Solitude
6:22 - The Towers
7:02 - Ingame Contradictions

Reddit Post Accompaniment:
https://www.reddit.com/r/teslore/comments/dd8pb0/the_complete_guide_to_why_solitude_isnt_snowy_and/

LeftoverPat Argonian made by LizardBusiness
http://www.twitter.com/LizardBusiness

Solitude, as the capital of Skyrim, gets surprisingly no snow as a possible weather. This could be due to a number of factors that we'll explore in this video, but namely stems from the mountain shadow effect. Why? Because in order for onshore Arctic precipitation to exist, it must come from warmer climates... such as Hammerfell, or Yokuda. Since a mountain blocks this precipitation, most of the moisture/snow hitting Skyrim's NW coast gathers in the mountains behind Solitude without ever making it to the other side. The rest of it makes its way around Solitude's peninsula, missing the city, and continuing on through the rest of Skyrim. This same angle of attack can be seen with Solstheim's coldest part being at its most NW point. I believe that these points are no accident.

Further, weather coming from the other direction to Solitude (from Atmora/N Morrowind), is certainly colder, but drier and unlikely to produce proper precipitation strong enough to push towards Solitude (warm fronts typically prevail over cold). Even if snowier conditions did reach Solitude from the NE, we have evidence in game that the river flowing out of Solitude is much warmer than normal rivers. This will absolutely affect the temperature of Ocean Currents, which affects weather from the North.

There are two major points along the river's journey to Solitude where we see "steam". A couple river sources near warmer Whiterun, and the docks of Solitude itself. It's probably not actually boiling water, but a common phenomenon that happens when water is even just a little warmer than outside colder air. Unless you believe in the Throat of the World/Whiterun Supervolcano theory, it's probably this. Which can manipulate the temperature of river runoff, the estuaries, ergo nerby ocean temp, ergo weather.

Tower Lore can offer us a fun fantasy-like reason to believe that the capital of Skyrim might have been "designed" to be devoid of snow. But lore on "The Towers" is shrouded too much in speculation... even the big sources we have are explicitly listed as theoretical. I would welcome a contradiction to this from a lorebeard, though. At the end of the day, it IS magical world, and in the games alone we've seen a number of weather alterations from magic.

It's also important to make the point that the game is probably in perma-summer mode, because Skyrim starts @ 17th Last Seed (AKA mid-August). If the developers implemented seasons, we might see Solitude with snow around Evening Star (December).

Wind direction in Skyrim has some mechanical evidence, too. But it's because rain/blizzards go towards the East. Always. Unless you input a weather with console command, it'll blow NNE, until you open the map or something, and it'll go back to blowing East.

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All map animation, and Skyrim video footage by me (except "Bethesda's 2011 Game Jam" for Seasonal Foliage).
Album of some of my map anims: https://imgur.com/a/FqLS8Vb

All else not mine, especially these amazing maps:

AMAZING Earth Wind/Current Live Map
earth.nullschool.net

SKYRIM INTERACTIVE MAP
UESP.net

SKYRIM TEXTURED TOPOGRAPHIC
Rocketsoup

TOPOGRAPHIC MAP of Skyrim
T Cook
https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/36159

SHADED RELIEF MAP of SKYRIM
Timothy Cook

SIMPLE CLIMATE MAP
Lady Nerevar

TAMRIEL CLIMATE WITH OCEAN CURRENTS
u/Zantanderr

TAMRIEL 4E201 (Green)
Lady Nerevar

HANDMADE LEATHER MAP
u/CaveGeekArt

TAMRIEL RELIEF MAP
James Nalepa

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Music in order:
-Redguard Adventures Ingame Theme 2
-A Winter's Tale [Skyrim]
-The Bannered Mare [Skyrim]
-Out of the Cold [Skyrim]
-The Black Nag/Childsgrove
-At the Summertime Feast [Adrian von Ziegler]
-The City Gates [Skyrim]
-Morrowind Theme

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Thank you so much for watching! Please leave a question, comment, or feedback on how I might make the next one even better!
As always, if I've left you uncredited by mistake, please don't hesitate to contact me so I can add it to this list.

Видео Weather Systems in Skyrim - Elder Scrolls: Leftover Lore канала LeftoverPat