EmberFrostGuide9 min read
EmberFrost snowstorms: when they hit and how to prepare
EmberFrost snowstorm guide: the first hits on day 3, then one every 2 days. What it does to your fire, how much wood it burns and if wind screens pay off.
EmberFrost snowstorms run on a fixed calendar. The first one hits on day 3 and another follows every 2 in-game days, about every 16 minutes of play. Each storm gives 45 seconds of warning, then blows for 60 seconds on Normal or 90 on Hard, halving every fire's heat and doubling the wood it burns.
This guide turns those rules into a plan for EmberFrost: how to read the warning, what a storm does to your villagers, how many logs to stock at each fire level and whether the wind screens earn their 1,850 coins. New to Tamarisk? Start with the beginner's guide.
When do snowstorms hit in EmberFrost?
Snowstorms in EmberFrost follow a schedule you can count on. The first small snowstorm arrives on day 3, and from then on one comes every 2 in-game days: day 5, day 7, day 9 and so on. A day in Tamarisk lasts 8 real minutes, 6 of daylight and 2 of night, so a new storm rolls in about every 16 minutes of play. Those are minutes of play, not of real time. While the game is closed, time stands still and nothing burns, so a storm never hits a village you left behind. No storm comes before you light the first fire, and only one weather event runs at a time. The calendar is the same on Normal and Hard; only the length of the storm changes. Every storm, the first or the twentieth, gives you the same 45-second warning before it hits.
That makes storms the easiest danger in the game to plan for. After each one you have about 16 minutes to restock before the next. Our day and night guide explains how the clock runs and why the fire burns faster after dark.
How do you know a storm is coming?
You get 45 seconds of warning, and the game sends it several ways at once:
- The sky changes colour and the wind picks up. You can see and hear the weather turn.
- A storm icon appears on the HUD, to the right of the population counter, inside a ring that counts down the seconds. It pulses during the warning. Once the storm hits, the ring counts down to calm instead.
- Granny Maud speaks up. Before the first storm she says: "That sky looks angry. A storm is near." Before later ones she has a shorter line, such as "A storm is coming. Build up the fire now!"
- A warning sound plays, and your phone gives a short buzz if Vibration is on in the settings.
Forty-five seconds is enough for one short trip, so use it to fill the fire rather than to start something new. Feed it the logs you carry, take more from the wood pile if your woodcutter has stacked some, and only then head back out. When the ring starts pulsing, it's the wrong moment to set off for the far side of the lake.
What does a snowstorm do to the fire and the village?
While a storm blows, the main fire and every brazier give half their usual heat and burn wood twice as fast. The outside temperature does not change, and the fire still reaches as far as before. What drops is how much warmth it gives inside that reach.
Here is what that means in degrees. By day, Tamarisk sits at -15 °C. The fire normally adds 20 degrees, so standing near it is a mild +5 °C. In a storm it adds only 10, which leaves about -5 °C right beside the pit: the edge of freezing. Villagers there count as cold and work 30% slower. Those further out, where the fire's warmth fades, drop below -5 °C, and after about 30 seconds there they stop working and walk to the nearest heat. A brazier, which normally adds 8 degrees, adds only 4.
You feel it less than they do. The Ember Keeper only gets chilled outside the reach of a fire or brazier, and a storm does not shrink that reach.
The real danger is a storm that catches a half-empty fire. With no wood left, the fire sinks to embers that give just 3 degrees, and a storm halves even that. Feed it any log and it lights again.
The good news: a small snowstorm cannot be lost. Nobody dies, nothing is taken, and when it blows over, the village warms up again. Getting through your first one earns the Weathered achievement, worth 10 points, and it happens in the free part of the game. Our achievements guide lists the rest.
How much wood does a storm take?
On Normal, a storm burns about 6 logs with the starting campfire and about 13 with the beacon fire, roughly twice what the same minute costs on a calm day. A full fire holds more than that at every level, so on Normal the rule is simple: fill it at the warning and you are covered.
| Fire level | Villagers | Normal storm (60 s) | Hard storm (90 s) | Fire holds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Campfire | 2 | about 6 logs | about 13 logs | 12 logs |
| Stone hearth | 6 | about 8 logs | about 17 logs | 18 logs |
| Great hearth | 12 | about 10 logs | about 21 logs | 26 logs |
| Beacon fire | 18 | about 13 logs | about 28 logs | 36 logs |
These are our own sums from the game's numbers, at the fire's daytime pace and with the village size at which each level opens. Every villager makes the fire burn 3% faster, so a bigger crowd adds a little.
Now compare the last two columns. On Hard, the campfire is the one level where a full fire is not enough: its 12 logs last about 81 seconds at storm pace, so a 90-second storm drains it to embers near the end. On the campfire, add a few logs halfway through. Every upgrade after it holds enough for a whole Hard storm. Our fire levels guide covers what each upgrade costs and how far it warms.
Are wind screens worth building?
Yes, once they come up, mostly for the warmth. Wind screens are the 25th of 26 places, the last one before the lookout tower, and cost 1,850 coins. They halve the heat a storm takes: instead of losing half their warmth, the fire and braziers lose a quarter.
In degrees, the fire gives 15 instead of 10 during a storm, so the spot beside the pit sits at about 0 °C instead of -5 °C. Villagers there are still slightly cold, but they are now 5 degrees from freezing instead of right on the line, and fewer of them end up in the colder ring further out.
The screens soften the wood side the same way. While a storm blows, the fire burns at one and a half times its usual pace instead of twice. With the beacon fire, that brings a Normal storm from about 13 logs down to about 10, and a Hard storm from about 28 to about 21. That is a few logs saved per storm, not half the bill.
So should you rush them? You can't, really. They sit near the end of the list, so by the time they appear you will have a big fire and a full village around you. Build them when they are offered. They also soften the Great Blizzard, which waits behind the lookout tower.
How are storms different on Hard?
On Hard a storm blows for 90 seconds instead of 60, and every fire already burns 40% faster, so a storm costs roughly twice the wood it does on Normal. The calendar, the 45-second warning and the halved heat stay the same.
A few habits help on a Hard run:
- Fill the fire at every warning, and on the campfire, top it up again mid-storm.
- Time your trips by the calendar. Avoid a long walk to the forest edge or the quarry when a storm is due.
- Upgrade the fire early. A bigger fire holds more than a Hard storm can burn.
- Watch the braziers. On Hard, woodcutters leave them alone, so until your carrier arrives, a brazier you forget runs dry faster in a storm.
The mode a storm uses is fixed when it starts. Switch the difficulty mid-storm and the change applies from the next one.
Snowstorm or Great Blizzard: what is the difference?
Real forecasters draw the line by wind and visibility. The US National Weather Service glossary calls it a blizzard when winds of 35 miles an hour or more and blowing snow that cuts visibility below a quarter of a mile are expected to last 3 hours or longer (National Weather Service glossary). EmberFrost draws the line by role:
- Small snowstorms come on the calendar, last a minute or a minute and a half, and cannot be lost.
- The Great Blizzard comes once, after you build the lookout tower. It blows longer, two minutes on Normal and three on Hard, and your workers shelter at the fire, so only you can feed it. If it goes wrong, it comes back the next day and nothing is lost.
The two never overlap. While the Great Blizzard is on its way or blowing, the small storms stay away. Our build order guide covers how to stock up before you build the lookout, and our Normal vs Hard guide explains why the longer Hard blizzard asks for more wood.
FAQ
When is the first snowstorm in EmberFrost?
On day 3, once you have lit the fire. Granny Maud warns you shortly before, and the storm icon counts down 45 seconds. After that a storm comes every 2 in-game days, about every 16 minutes of play.
Can you lose a snowstorm in EmberFrost?
No. A small snowstorm cannot be lost and nobody dies. Villagers may get cold and stop work for a while, but the storm passes, the fire relights as soon as you feed it, and getting through the first one earns Weathered.
Do wind screens stop snowstorms?
No. Storms keep coming on the same calendar. Wind screens halve the heat a storm takes, so fires keep three quarters of their warmth instead of half, and they burn a little less wood while it blows.
How long does a snowstorm last in EmberFrost?
60 seconds on Normal and 90 seconds on Hard, after a 45-second warning. The Great Blizzard lasts longer: two minutes on Normal and three on Hard.
Get started
EmberFrost: Survival Tycoon is free to start on the App Store, storms and all. Find out more on the EmberFrost game page, or browse every EmberFrost post.
