On this page (10 sections)
A weather retrospective asks each person one thing: what was the weather like in your sprint, and why? Everyone posts a note under Sunny, Cloudy, Rainy or Stormy, with a sentence of explanation. It takes 15 minutes, works for any team, and puts trouble on the board early: one stormy note tells you more than an hour of "it was fine."
The four columns
| Column | What goes here | Example note |
|---|---|---|
| ☀️ Sunny | The sprint went well and felt good | "Shipped address autocomplete two days early, and nobody stayed late." |
| ⛅ Cloudy | Mostly fine, but something's unclear or could tip either way | "Fine overall, but I still don't know if the pricing project is going ahead." |
| 🌧️ Rainy | A hard sprint: setbacks, lost time, frustration | "Lost three days to the staging outage. It felt like wading through mud." |
| ⛈️ Stormy | Something serious that needs attention now | "I've covered two roles since Ali left. I can't keep this up." |
The reason matters more than the weather. "Cloudy" on its own tells you nothing. "Cloudy: I don't know if pricing is going ahead" is a question someone can answer by Wednesday. Ask for one sentence with every note.
Where it comes from. Retromat lists Weather Report as a check-in: draw storm, rain, clouds and sunshine on a flipchart, and each person marks their mood. It cites Esther Derby and Diana Larsen's book Agile Retrospectives (2006) as the source. Here the four kinds of weather become columns, so every mark comes with a reason.
In Retro Rabbit
The Weather Report template in Retro Rabbit
Pick Weather Report from the format library when you create a Team Room (or later in its Settings) and the board starts with its four columns. Your team adds notes during the sprint, with or without their name shown, then votes on what to talk about.
Weather Report · Sprint #14
Example notes
Sunny
- Shipped address autocomplete two days early, and nobody stayed late2 votes
- Pairing with Sam on the search bug was the best afternoon in weeks4 votes
Cloudy
- Fine, but I still don't know if the pricing project is going ahead5 votes
- Good sprint, a bit worried about the new release process3 votes
Rainy
- Lost three days to the staging outage, felt like wading through mud3 votes
- Requirements for the settings screen changed twice mid-sprint2 votes
Stormy
- Covering two roles since Ali left and I can't keep this up1 vote
- Third weekend in a row on the release. Something has to change1 vote
- Sunny
- Cloudy
- Rainy
- Stormy
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When to use it (and when not to)
Use it when:
- the sprint was short or busy and the team needs a quick retro, not a long one
- the team is remote and you can't read the room on a call
- something changed, like a new team member, a reorg or a big release, and you want to see how it landed
- you want a regular reading you can compare sprint to sprint
Pick something else when:
- you need decisions about process. A mood reading won't produce them; use Start Stop Continue.
- nobody would post a storm even if they had one. If the board is always sunny and cloudy, run a psychological safety check first.
- the same rain has come back three sprints running. You know the weather; now you need the causes. Try a team energy check.
How to run it live (15 minutes)
| Time | Step |
|---|---|
| 0–2 min | Review last retro's action items |
| 2–5 min | Silent writing: one note each, with a reason |
| 5–7 min | Read the board and group matching reasons |
| 7–9 min | Dot vote: two votes each |
| 9–14 min | Discuss storms first, then rain |
| 14–15 min | Agree on one action, or none |
- Check last time's weather. Open the Previous Retro tab in the Action Items panel. If someone was stormy last sprint, did the action help? Old / Unresolved Items shows anything older still open.
- Write. Three minutes on the shared timer. One note per person in the weather that matches their sprint, plus a reason.
- Read and group. Read every note out loud, starting with the storms. Drag matching reasons together: three rainy notes about the same outage are one topic.
- Vote. Set dot voting to two votes each, then sort by Most Votes.
- Storms first. For a storm about the work, ask what would help. For a personal one, offer a one-to-one instead (see the pitfall below). Then the top rain.
- One action is enough. A weather retro rarely needs more. If the board is mostly sunny, no action is a fine outcome.
How to run it async over a sprint
The weather changes during a sprint, so take two readings instead of one.
- Day 1: the next board opens as soon as someone clicks Start New Retro after the last retro.
- Mid-sprint: everyone posts a weather note for the first half. Two readings a sprint show direction: cloudy to sunny is a different story from sunny to rainy.
- As notes arrive: the facilitator reads any stormy note the day it lands and follows up directly. Don't wait for retro day. People can turn off Show Name to post without their name shown, but then nobody can follow up with them, so the note should say what would help.
- Last day of the sprint: everyone posts a second note, then votes.
- The day before: the facilitator reads the CarrotIQ Sprint Summary for each column.
- Retro day: a 10-minute call on storms and the top rain, or fully async: the facilitator posts one line per storm saying what happens next.
See how to run an async retrospective.
11 example prompts
Sunny
- What made this sprint feel good?
- What would you want every sprint to have?
- Who made your week easier?
Cloudy 4. What's unclear for you right now? 5. What's fine today but could go either way next sprint?
Rainy 6. What made the sprint harder than it needed to be? 7. Where did you lose time or energy? 8. What kept going wrong, even after we fixed it?
Stormy 9. What's close to too much for you? 10. What needs attention before next sprint, not after? 11. What would help most this week?
Facilitator tip and a common pitfall
Tip: post your own weather first, and be honest. If the facilitator posts "sunny" in a hard sprint, everyone else follows. A facilitator who writes "rainy: I underestimated the migration and it cost us" makes it easier for others to say what their sprint was really like.
Pitfall: debating someone's storm in the room. When a stormy note is about workload or a colleague, a group discussion puts the author on the spot. Thank them, ask whether they want to talk now or one to one, and keep personal follow-ups private. Storms about the work, like an outage or a deadline, are fine to discuss as a team.
How AI helps with this format
On Pro AI (and during the free trial), CarrotIQ handles the admin:
- Group names. Drag "staging down for three days" onto "couldn't test anything on Tuesday" and CarrotIQ names the group, for example "Staging Outage".
- Summaries. The Sprint Summary covers each column and the whole retro. Open past sprints in the Team Room's sprint list to see whether the rainy summaries keep naming the same cause.
- Suggested action items. CarrotIQ Suggest drafts an action from the notes, weighting the most-voted ones. In a weather retro, it usually points at the top storm or rain.
Example action items
Weather actions are small and quick: answer the question behind a cloud, deal with a storm, protect the sun.
| Note | Action item |
|---|---|
| Stormy: "Covering two roles since Ali left" | "Marta, the engineering manager, agrees with the note's author this week which tasks pause until the new hire starts. Next retro: is that note still stormy?" |
| Cloudy: "Is the pricing project going ahead?" | "Maya asks the product lead for a yes or no on pricing by Wednesday and posts the answer in the team channel." |
| Rainy: "Lost three days to the staging outage" | "Leo writes up what broke staging and what would have caught it, by Friday. If it isn't fixed within a sprint, it gets a 5 Whys session." |
| Sunny: "Shipped early, nobody stayed late" | "Ines writes down what made it work (the story was split into three small pieces) and adds it to the working agreement." |
Next retro, the Previous Retro tab shows these. More in retrospective action items that actually get done.
Use this template in Retro Rabbit
- Start a 14-day free trial. No card is needed.
- Pick Weather Report from the format library: choose "Browse all formats" when you create your Team Room, or later in the Team Room's Settings.
- Ask everyone for a mid-sprint note with a reason, and check the Stormy column the day a note lands there.
See pricing for plans.
Related formats
- Mad Sad Glad: when the feelings need more room than one sentence
- Happy, Meh, Sad: three levels instead of four, even faster
- Team energy check: from how people feel to what's causing it
- Psychological safety check: when nobody ever posts a storm
- More formats in Quick retrospectives
- All retrospective templates
Frequently asked questions
What is a weather retrospective?
A quick retrospective where each person describes their sprint as weather (sunny, cloudy, rainy or stormy) and says why in one sentence. It gives the team a fast read on how the sprint felt, and storms show where to look first.
What do sunny, cloudy, rainy and stormy mean?
Sunny means the sprint went well and felt good. Cloudy is fine but uncertain, rainy is a hard sprint, and stormy means something serious needs attention now, such as overload or conflict.
How long does a weather retrospective take?
About 15 minutes. Writing takes three, and most of the rest goes to the stormy and rainy notes.
Can you use the weather report as a check-in?
Yes. Retromat lists it as an activity to open a retrospective. Before another format, go around the call and have each person name their weather and give one reason.
What should you do with a stormy note?
Look at it first and take it seriously. If it's about the work, discuss it as a team. If it's about workload or a person, thank the author and offer to talk one to one rather than debating it in the room.
Is a weather retro enough on its own?
It gives you a reading, not a diagnosis. If the same rain keeps coming back, follow it with a format that digs into causes, such as an energy check or Mad Sad Glad.
Run this retro in Retro Rabbit
Your team adds notes during the sprint, CarrotIQ groups and summarizes them and suggests action items, and unfinished items carry into the next retro.
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