diff --git a/tmd/areas/create_area_weights.py b/tmd/areas/create_area_weights.py
index 2c3ecd98..0fb5da03 100644
--- a/tmd/areas/create_area_weights.py
+++ b/tmd/areas/create_area_weights.py
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
 PARAMS = {}
 
 # default target parameters:
-TARGET_RATIO_TOLERANCE = 0.0010  # what is considered hitting the target
+TARGET_RATIO_TOLERANCE = 0.0040  # what is considered hitting the target
 DUMP_ALL_TARGET_DEVIATIONS = False  # set to True only for diagnostic work
 
 # default regularization parameters: