Re: Comments and Suggestions
I've vanished from a game twice. Both circumstances I think were justified.
Once, I was the DM, volunteering for players from Wanted - GMs. I spent several weeks hard-work setting a homebrew world up, against persistent "suggestions" from the PCs, and outright abuse from one who I wouldn't let play a half-nymph, half-sand-dragon grey elf psion. Finally ready, I asked the remaining PCs to submit their characters. No response. I waited, and waited. Finally I was exploring options and accidentally deleted the game and couldn't work out how to undo it. I didn't miss it, but felt awkward for it.
Second time, I was a player in the only lasting Eberron game I could find, but it was just an endless series of dull dungeon-crawls loosely related to the setting. I discussed my failing interest with the DM, who gave me a week to decide whether to go or stay. I was one day late for some reason, and got shut out. I RTJed again just to apologise.
I guess some people didn't care enough in first place and just "forget", or are too embarrassed to say they don't want to play any more, but it's damn annoying to clean up after them, or to have made a character pointlessly.
I tend to wait for a missing PC for a period proportional to the time I've known them. A week or two, completely forget them soon after. Over a year, I still half-expect them to return years later. That's the worst, someone you know relatively well for quite some time suddenly vanishes, and you wonder if they died or something.
As to the weather, I'm in Australia, and it's winter. We got hail the other day. Hail! We only get that once a decade.