How Much Does the Weather Influence What You're Writing?

The question could be taken two ways--the actual weather going on outside while you're writing, or the weather that's happening in the book.

I'm going to go for the second one--how much does weather influence what's happening in the tale that you're writing.

I use weather a lot to enhance suspense.

In my Deputy Tempe Crabtree series, I've had a white-out snow situation, (Intervention), hot,dry weather that causes forest fires (Kindred Spirits), and too much rain causing a massive mud slide (Raging Water.)

(So you don't get confused, the e-book has a different cover.)

The big weather component in many of the Rocky Bluff P.D. series is fog. Rocky Bluff is a beach community in Southern California. Fog is nearly an everyday reality first thing in the morning and at night. Fog is a fun weather element to add varying degrees of suspense. 

Weather in a book will also predict what a characters is wearing: Is it appropriate for the weather, or is there some reason it's not?

In Murder in the Worst Degree, an act of nature is one of the big elements that affects the story. 

Tell me how weather influences your writing?

Or readers, tell me about a book where the description of the weather affected you?

Marilyn aka F. M. Meredith