The weather as an excuse?

In the short story, The Storm, the weather puts in motion a series of events that leads to a man and woman to cheat on their spouses. Some may say that the storm is to blame. I think that blaming the storm for the behavior of these characters is quite the far fetched excuse. I believe that the characters in this story, as well as anyone else who choses to commit adultery is responsible for there own choice. However, the storm does parallel the events that occur in the story very well. The calms and the fury of the storm helps the reader get a feel for the story and stay interested.