Late-summer thunderstorms have come to my small bit of Japan, bringing daily mounting insane humidity, ominous clouds (replete with rumbling and distant flashes), followed by sudden torrential downpours.
For the brief (usually fifteen minutes or less) span in which the storm lasts, the cool is a relief. Soon after, however, the heat and even greater humidity tends to return. Sometimes the respite was worthwhile.
I remember one of my first weeks here in Gyoda, seeing the most intense thunderstorm I'd seen in my life. I'd never thought the term "raining buckets" was anything but a lame cliche, but it was true. Lightning struck literally every second.
Maybe it's nothing for people back home who live in the South or Midwest (or West even?), but in the comparably mild Northeast, I've seen nothing like it.