After the rain stops I have found that occasionally the sound effect continues until I close VF2 completely and return. The sound contines even when I switch between families. It doesn't happen every time though. Is this a known issue/is anyone else experiencing this?

My 7, 8, 4, 5 all work. 9 will zip to 7. 6 will zip to 4. 1 will zip to 7 and 3 will zip to 1 and then to 7. Same for you?

Yes, I've seen that on one occasion so far. I'm only running one family though. I left the game running in the background while I did some web surfing. When I went back half an hour later the rain sound effect was still playing, but no visible rain. Like you I had to quit the game and re-enter it.