Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm is the thirteenth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, released on March 23, 1988, by Geffen Records.

Her third release on the label, the album features duets with a number of artists such as Peter Gabriel on "My Secret Place", Willie Nelson on "Cool Water", Don Henley on "Snakes and Ladders", and Billy Idol and Tom Petty on the track "Dancin' Clown".

In early 1986, Mitchell and Larry Klein visited Peter Gabriel's Ashcombe House recording studio near Bath, England.

[2] In February 1987, Mitchell saw Billy Idol performing his hit version of the William Bell R&B ballad, "To Be a Lover" on the Grammy Awards show.

While reminiscing about her friendship with saxophonist Wayne Shorter, Mitchell recalled their unusual style of collaboration, explaining that since both she and he were painters, they possessed a "visual" understanding of music, where she could abstractly describe an emotion or a scene for him that he would translate in to his playing, an attribute she claimed was unique to him as a saxophone player.

War is explored in two very different stories: "The Tea Leaf Prophecy (Lay Down Your Arms)" tells the tale of Mitchell's parents meeting during World War II after a prophetic tea-leaf reading, while "The Beat of Black Wings" is about an embittered Vietnam vet named Killer Kyle, who found it difficult to get the sound of helicopter blades out of his head.

Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm was released in March 1988, and the song "Snakes and Ladders" (featuring Don Henley) was issued as a pre-release single to radio stations in January 1988.

Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female at the 1989 Grammy Awards, but lost to Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car".