A Dark and Stormy Night

As I was driving with a friend to a church meeting last night at about 7:15 I noticed that the sky looked odd; dark in places, thickly overcast in others, and in between it had swirled together but sat still, as if it were awaiting something. I told her I thought it looked a bit creepy, but it wasn't enough to make us turn around. The meeting lasted about an hour and by that time the wind had kicked up, there was lightening everywhere and huge drops of rain began to pelt down on us as we scurried to our cars.
The drive takes about 20 minutes and it was just wierd. Sometimes it seemed smokey but there was no smell of smoke, and at one point I couldn't see anything in front of me. In spite of the rain, dust and dirt were blown in front of us and I had to use windshield washer fluid on the glass several times in order to clear my vision.
By the time we got home, things had settled down to light rain and a lightening storm but I left my front and back doors open so I could watch. It was really warm outside. It didn't all fit together and it felt unsettled, even strange. Our lights complained about it, too, as they went out for a few minutes, then back on and then they flickered and came back again.
The actual storm lasted from about 8:30 til 9:30, only about an hour, and then everything returned to normal. The rain stopped, the wind settled and the lightening calmed. Within another hour the ground was fairly dry and had the appearance that there had been nothing unusual going on, which made it all the more unusual, I thought.
This morning the only sign left is damp ground around the edges of the lawn and in places where water might congregate until daylight takes control. By all appearances it looks like it's going to be a nice day.