I've worked with Game Maker previously to using libgdx, and one thing you could do is skip ahead in a particle's animation. For instance, if you have a snow particle effect, when you enter a room the snow particles would only just begin falling. But if you used the part_system_update() method repeatedly upon entering the room, you could "fast-forward" the effect, making it appear as if the snow had been falling before you entered the room. Is there a way to achieve that same result in libgdx?
Yes, you can update it when is created using the desired big float.
float startp = 0.5F; //for example
particleEffect.update(startp);