Hurricane Mira

The CEO of Animal Jam decided to make a cool new update: weather. It would typically be as usual, warm and sunny, but often a cloud would cover the sky or it would rain or snow. There was even high and low tides at Crystal Sands. This update was released on March 28, 2010. The "weather update" was a hit, and many more people played.

But there was a dark side.

Programmers at 'HQ had designed the weather to match the current conditions in a faraway, exotic, beautiful tropical island called Insertnameoffarawayexoticbeautifultropicalislandhere. Thus, as the wet season of the island approached, the sun faded and thunderstorms became prominent. Jammers complained that there ears ached from hearing the constant crash of thunder while playing. Many players now hated the "weather" and quit indefinitely.

Then, a few months later, the storms abated and the bright afternoon sun and cool evening drizzles commenced. The "quitting" Jammers returned, and everyone was happy.

This cycle went on for two years without much trouble.

But there was an even darker side.

On September 18, 2012, a huge hurricane hit the small island nation of Insertnameoffarawayexoticbeautifultropicalislandhere''. ''Residents were devastated and fled to the mainland, and the capital city, Starbuckstopia, was practically flattened by the wind and extreme rain. It was horrible.

But AJ's weather programming was trained to exactly mimic the weather conditions of the island. Thus, what would later be called Hurricane Mira hit the land of Jamaa.

Stores were swept away in huge storm surges. Sarepia Forest's old-growth trees were knocked over, crushing nearby dens. Coral Canyons flooded, and Crystal Sands was now completely underwater. Mount Shiveer was essentially burried in snow; Appondale turned into a giant pit of mud and dead trees; everything was being destroyed.

The only haven readily available to people was Jamaa Township, but even this once-beautiful area was knee-deep in water and was battered by 30-miles-per-hour winds. Plus, the stable areas - such as under the Mira Statue or in the remains of shops - were packed with shoulder-to-shoulder animals.

The CEO of Animal Jam worked desperately with his officials to stop the weather, but it was too late. The "weather update" was burned into Animal Jam's coding permanently.

Over half of AJ's players quit. Some of the remaining players moved deep into the Ocean areas, never to use a land animal again for fear of the hurricane. Everyone was scared and confused. Animal Jam had fallen to pieces.

Hurricane Mira raged on for nearly four months. then, just as suddenly as it had begun, it stopped.

Programmers had finally realized how to fix the weather. Rather than remove it, they changed it - instead of mimicking the conditions on Insertnameoffarawayexoticbeautifultropicalislandhere, AJHQ set the weather to match Napa, California, where it was almost always sunny (though the winters rained).

Players slowly came back. The towns and environments and dens and shops were repaired. By February 7, everything was back to normal.

At least, until the Napa earthquake.