In the real world, weather is all around us, affecting our emotions while delivering the experience of deep sensory input that we associate with our environment, be it the pull and tug of clothing as a wind rages, the soft kiss of falling snow on our skin, or anything in between.

Weather is an integral part of the everyday, so it’s important to include it in our writing. Not only does it layer our fictional world with realism, it's also an excellent way to steer the emotions of both our readers and the POV character in each scene.

Due to our emotional associations, weather is especially useful for generating a specific mood. Rainy days are gloomy. Sunshine makes us feel happy and buoyant. Fog is oppressive. Because weather phenomena often produce mostly universal feelings, writing them into a scene is a good way to generate the desired mood, as can be seen with the following example: