Latest news with #JamesStagg
New York Times
5 days ago
- Climate
- New York Times
The Man Whose Weather Forecast Saved the World
'If he had got the forecast wrong,' Peter Stagg said from his home an hour from Bordeaux, 'I could have been sitting in German France — not France France.' Mr. Stagg was speaking about the pivotal role his father, Group Capt. James Stagg, played in liberating France from Nazi occupation. The elder Mr. Stagg was not a general or a foot soldier, but in the final hours before one of the most consequential moments of World War II, he was the man everyone was waiting on. On June 6, 1944, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered more than 150,000 Allied troops to storm the beaches of Normandy in one of the largest seaborne invasions in history. But hours before, Eisenhower's eyes were fixed not on the battlefield, but on the skies. More precisely, on the weather report laid out before him. And the meteorologist who had created it, described by his son as 'a dour irascible Scot,' had to get it right. 'The weather forecast was a go or no-go,' said Dr. Catherine Ross, a library and archive manager at the Met Office, the weather service for the United Kingdom. 'Everything else was ready.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
BBC News
05-05-2025
- Climate
- BBC News
VE Day and using the weather to gain military advantage
As celebrations to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day ramp up, let us consider the impact of one of the most crucial weather forecasts in D-Day landings, which took place a year before liberation, marked a pivotal moment during World War was the largest seaborne invasion in history with over 150,000 troops alighting across five beaches. Its success was highly dependent on favourable to the intervention of a weather forecaster, D-Day narrowly avoided being one of the biggest disasters in military history. Why was the weather important? Low tides and quiet weather were vital to getting such a huge number of troops onto the beaches of a full moon giving good visibility and low tides expected on 5, 6 and 7 June, there was huge pressure to deliver a favourable weather now in a world of computer modelling, satellite and radar data and widespread observations, forecasting the weather 24 hours ahead of time can be a challenging in 1944 it was even more difficult - not least the job of trying to predict conditions several days ahead. A late weather observation The invasion date was initially set for 5 the army's Chief Meteorologist, Group Captain James Stagg spotted a potent area of low pressure set to move across the UK that day, bringing strong winds and extensive low cloud to the English Channel making the attempt too as the weather charts were being drawn up on 4 June, a late weather observation from a ship in the Atlantic identified a potential brief ridge of high pressure building after the low Stagg believed, would be enough to provide a "window of opportunity" and enough of a break in the weather for the invasion to take place on the 6 June instead. Did the risk pay off? The invasion went ahead on 6 June when the brief weather window opened up, but conditions were - if anything - slightly worse than expected and far from cloud sat over parts of the northern coast of France, limiting visibility of the ground to aircraft overhead. Winds were also stronger, making seas rougher and the tides higher. The Channel crossing became vomit-inducing and energy-sapping for many troops, making landing on the coast far more challenging than had been the risk of taking the decision to invade in such marginal conditions paid off. The Germans were taken by surprise and the course of the war Weather and the Shipping Forecast at 100Weather history: Frost fairs in the Little Ice AgeHow much do you think you know about other battles throughout history where the weather played a role? Try our BBC Weather quiz and find out.
