How Important is Weather in Your Historical Fiction? The other question is how do you research it? Please enjoy these insightful answers by Linda Ulleseit, C. V. Lee, and myself.

Linda Ulleseit:

Fort Snelling, St. Paul Historical Society

Weather is an important part of setting. When writing The River Remembers I was lucky enough to find a website that listed daily weather for Fort Snelling, Minnesota, beginning in 1820. I knew when the snowstorms isolated everyone inside, and when the Northern Lights occurred. I knew of prairie fires with smoke that filled the sky. A valuable resource, indeed!

C. V. Lee:

Sun, clouds, rain, fog, snow—these are all devices that can set a mood for a scene in a novel. But weather can be so much more, especially when writing historical fiction. Sometimes it is a plot device. And when you are really lucky, it coincides with a record of inclement weather.
In my first novel, Token of Betrayal, a road had been washed out, leaving a wide and deep chasm. It would be wrong to have it magically appear at the time needed, so I placed a big storm earlier in the novel and mentioned it a few times before the big scene in which that chasm played an important role.
In my second novel, Betrayal of Trust, historically a horrific summer storm delays what is the final, dramatic sequence of events. Occasionally history just helps an author out. A reader might think that is just a bit too convenient, but, real life just works out that way sometimes.
When I am writing my nighttime scenes, I like to check the timeanddate.com calendar. This site has both the Gregorian and Julian calendars. Since I write in the 15th and 16th centuries, this is important because the Gregorian calendar had not yet been introduced. Each yearly calendar shows the phases of the moon. In the scene, I can include a mention of the moon—whether it is full, a crest, or a new moon—giving the scene just a hint more realism.

Anne:

Wherever we live, there is weather. Good, bad, normal or dire. There is always weather. Part of the adventure of reading is the different climates and environments people and the story exist in.
My Dahlquin Series takes place in thirteenth century Ireland where rain is constant and expected, the growing season limited by a number of factors, and all lived with the elements.
Weather is part of the setting, and I add the details of clothing, travel or the labor being done. Along with mood and setting, as author Lee said, weather can be a plot device. In Archer’s Grace I included heavy rain, a flooding river, tipping a wagon, clogging the river causing further flooding, stranding my characters in an overcrowded inn; creating greater tension, irritable travelers and wet clothing hung to dry. Reminding me a camping trip…but that is a different time and place.
Stories set in extreme environments like the arctic or desert will have greater urgency and primacy of the weather and harsh conditions, but as I said, we all have weather, and it should be included to ground your readers in the location.