Today is wet, rainy and cold.  A week ago, everyone was wearing short sleeves.  There’s a saying about Texas weather — if you don’t like it, wait a minute and it will change.

The same should be true of weather in fiction.  It’s easy to overlook weather and default to sunny and temperate weather throughout, but including the weather can help solidify the sense of place in your story, from afternoon rain showers frequent on a tropical island, to the treacherous conditions driving down the switchbacks of a mountain while it is sleeting. Weather can also throw additional challenges in front of your characters.  It’s enough of a problem if your character’s car breaks down and she has to hike back to town — but imagine her having to do that in a sudden thunderstorm, with the threat of flash floods.  Instant tension increase.  Think of other ways you can challenge your characters with unexpected weather.