You guys are wwaaaaay too concerned about weather and pellet grilling.
I've been smoking and grilling on pellet machines for about a decade now. I've done it in all kinds of weather. Both of my cookers have gotten wet but kept on cooking, safely, because they were designed to operate in a reasonable rain situation. No, they won't cook underwater. Yes, I have GFI receptacles. Yes, I keep them covered or under cover when I'm not using them. Common sense.
As to pellets turning to concrete yes, they will if they get wet. Keeping them dry is easy. I use a pool storage box (that sits out in the rain but doesn't let rain inside it) or keep them under my cook shack (carport). No big deal. The only time I ever had any wet pellets was my fault when I stupidly left an open bag of them near the edge of my cook shack and a heavy, blowing rain the next day got to them. Like a bag of charcoal I once left on my open back porch I can't really blame the fuel itself for my inattention.
If you are going to regularly spend a lot of time cooking in heavy rain and have no way whatsoever to protect your cooker or fuel from the elements then gas is the only way to go. Charcoal, like pellets, doesn't function when wet and electrical appliances (sump pumps being an exception
) don't mix well with water. Wet wood in a stick burner is problematical, too.
. . . cook on through the wind, cook on through the rain, and you'll never walk alone . . .
. It's the good groceries that count, and whatever you use to cook them works! The alternative is horrible to ponder (cooking indoors on appliances with no "soul")
Hub