Stormy Weather And Temporal Chaos

As noted here, when Aryuk's daughter died in childbirth, a mammoth trumpeted, the wind loudened and the summer was going to be cold. That was in 13,211 BC. Later, a very long time later, in 1990 AD:

"Lightning flickered in darkness..." (The Shield Of Time, p. 259).

These opening words of a new chapter prepare the reader for a metaphorical as well as a literal storm. The Time Patrol is about to face a major problem. Sure enough, after just two sentences about lightning, thunder, wind and rain, the narrative proceeds directly to a dialogue involving tension and conflict between two familiar characters, Everard and Guion. We already know that Guion is on the track of something mysterious and possibly frightening but so far we have had only hints - and that is all that we get here.

Did Anderson consciously construct his texts in order to make approaching storms in the meteorological sense of that phrase exactly parallel imminent catastrophes for his characters? Remember the end of "The Sorrow of Odin the Goth." Or did he habitually write in this way without having to contrive the effect? What is certain is that the reader experiences the effect whether or not s/he reflects on it.

The parallel continues. At the end of the chapter, Everard draws a lungful of air, "...sharp with the smell of the oncoming thunderstorm...," while wind booms and buffets, and at the same time wonders whether the high-powered Patrol agents of the far future are making desperate provision against "...a chaos that they cannot chart and therefore cannot turn aside?" (p. 265) They are in our future but they fear something that is going to happen to the entire timeline. We are certain that something is about to happen but still do not know what.