Weather As A Force at D-Day-- Part 1: Had To Be Right

Since I am writing about the impact of weather on various wars in American history  today, I added a fourth time when weather was a big factor, and this time because it had to be almost perfect.

I am writing about other weather stories also in my Saw the Elephant: Civil War, Cooter's History Thing and Not So Forgotten blogs today.

From Wikipedia "Normandy Landings."

The invasion planners determined a set of conditions  involving the phase of the moon,  the tides and the time of the day that would be necessary.  The hard part was that those numbers came only a few days a month.  A full moon was desirable for illumination for aircraft and higher tides.

Plus, Allied landings were to be shortly before dawn in between  low and hide tide so that beach obstacles could be seen and the men exposed in the open the least.

Eisenhower tentatively selected June 6 for the day, but  on June 4 conditions were unsuitable with high winds and heavy seas would prevent launching landing craft and low clouds would obscure targets for aircraft.

--GreGen