Weather Report Retrospective
A four-part forecast that keeps 'watch this' separate from 'act now' — most retros collapse both into one Risks column.
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The board
01
SUNNY
What's clearly going well?
02
CLOUDY
What's uncertain but not urgent yet?
03
STORMY
What's actively blocking us right now?
04
RAINY
What's quietly draining energy or morale?
Weather Report asks the team to forecast the sprint instead of just grading it. Sunny is what's clearly working. The other three columns split what a typical Risks column lumps together: Cloudy is uncertainty worth watching but not yet a fire, Stormy is an active blocker that needs attention today, and Rainy is the low-grade friction that never blocks anything outright but quietly drains morale over weeks.
That split matters because 'watch it' and 'fix it now' call for different responses, and a single Risks column forces the facilitator to guess which is which mid-discussion. Weather Report makes the urgency visible before the conversation even starts — the team can triage Stormy cards first and still give Cloudy and Rainy cards room later in the same retro.
When to use Sunny · Cloudy · Stormy · Rainy
- Retros where a single Risks column keeps mixing looming uncertainty with today's actual blockers
- Teams dealing with chronic low-grade friction that never escalates into an incident but wears people down
- Cross-functional check-ins where different roles need to see urgency at a glance, not just a list of problems
- Any sprint where you want more nuance than Strengths·Risks·Learnings without adding a fifth column
How to run it in Retromik
- 1
Create cards anonymously
Everyone adds cards to each column at the same time. In Retromik, cards stay concealed and anonymous while people write, so nobody anchors on the loudest voice.
- 2
Vote on what matters
Each person places a limited set of voting tokens on the cards they think deserve discussion. Limited tokens force real prioritization.
- 3
Discuss the top cards
Walk through the highest-voted cards one by one. The facilitator steers the focus; anyone can comment on any card.
- 4
Reveal and group themes
Authors are revealed and the facilitator drags related cards into named themes, turning scattered notes into patterns.
- 5
Commit to action items
Convert the discussion into specific, owned action items with due dates — the part most retrospectives skip.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Weather Report retrospective?
A retrospective format with four columns that forecast the sprint like weather: Sunny (what's going well), Cloudy (uncertainty worth watching), Stormy (active blockers), and Rainy (low-grade friction that drains morale without ever fully blocking work).
What's the actual difference between Cloudy and Stormy?
Cloudy is a concern that hasn't cost the team anything yet — a dependency that might slip, a teammate who seems checked out. Stormy is already costing the team something today: a broken build, a blocked release, a missed handoff. Separating them lets the facilitator triage Stormy cards first without losing track of what's just building.
Why does Rainy need its own column instead of folding into Stormy?
Because chronic friction and acute blockers need different responses. A Stormy card usually needs a fix this sprint; a Rainy card — a slow build, a noisy Slack channel, a meeting nobody wants — often needs a policy change or just naming out loud so it stops being invisible.
Is the Weather Report template free to use?
Yes. Retromik is a free retrospective tool — sign up, pick the Weather Report template, and share the board link. Participants can join as guests without an account.
Related templates
Wind · Anchors · Rocks
A visual metaphor the whole team gets instantly: what propels us, what drags us, what could sink us.
ViewMad · Sad · Glad
An emotional check-in that surfaces how the team actually feels — before it becomes attrition.
ViewMore of · Less of · Keep
Calibrate instead of overhaul — dial behaviours up and down rather than starting from zero.
ViewRun your next retro with Sunny · Cloudy · Stormy · Rainy
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