Up close and personal.
Years ago my brother and I were driving a moving van cross country. HOT - HUMID... going through Missouri we had to stop cause it was so brutal. It was better while riding so we got back on the road. We got into OK mid day as we went farther west it got darker... & darker... then darker than I have ever seen before or since. IT started to rain the rain of an Apocalypse - visibility down to feet in front of the truck. We hit the hazards and kept rolling as fast as we could to keep in traffic and be safe... 15 minutes of terror. We drive out the the other side of this storm like something out of Twilight Zone. One second - dark - then like driving under a bridge the rain stops and the sun is out.
We think WOW- great we're out of it now!!
NOT so fast - to the south is the front coming at us like a wall of gray. We put the peddle to the metal and as we went west the front broke up and then we saw it - A tornado miles away that looked like it was chasing us. That thing was huge and I can sympathize with anyone that ever got in ones way.
These days - the first thing I do is check out the weather. Even here in So Cal where the sun always shines it make sense to check all the resources before a ride. We can have a wind storm or a fire storm - you don't want to ride in either.
weather
http://forecast.weather.gov - you can input your zip code and get up to date forecasts for your local area.
roads
http://quickmap.dot.ca.gov/you may have similar resources in your area - it's one thing to get caught out when you have to - but if you can avoid it...