No Pressure – D-Day Weather Forecast
In 2014 or thereabouts, I went to a play by David Haig which was based on the true story of a weather forecaster’s role in D Day. James Stagg’s advice was that the weather on June 5th, the intended day, was too volatile. He suggested the 6th June 1944 instead.
The play, ‘Pressure’, is great because it really conveyed the enormity of the decision that Ike, Churchill, and others had to make. To go ahead in bad weather risked enormous casualties and the failure of the Landings. To postpone, might mean Hitler discovered the location of the invasions and might lead to disaster.
Major characters portrayed in the play included Ike and his driver, Kay Summersby with whom he was very close. Also depicted was an American forecaster who disagreed with the British meteorologist James Stagg. How much of the play was for dramatic effect and how much is true, I’m not entirely sure but it is a fascinating D Day story.
The maps were hand drawn. They are partially based on intercepted data decoded by the enigma machine. Stagg recommended postponing the landings one day from the 5th to the 6th of June. This provided the ideal combination of calm seas, low water at first light and a full moon would occur.
D Day Weather Maps have recently been up for sale and are discussed here https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-68845546
For more information the weather forecast for DAY read this article from the BBC website https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/articles/c2995n9wgz8o.
On this Day
1683 – Ashmolean Opens, Britain’s longest surviving Museum, and the World’s First University Museum. Or at least June 6th is the opening date according to some people, and May 24th for others. See my post on the Ashmolean Museum here.
First published 2024, republished 2025., OnThis Day 2026