Part Two: How Meteorology became part of the Royal Navy

Part Two

On reflection, the meteorologist’s skills as used during WW1 must have been of use, particularly to the Royal Navy aviation world as once hostilities ceased, for those officers who had a particular interest in the weather; cessation did not appear to be an option. Although the majority of their work was done, these intrepid future RN Forecasters continued using their knowledge alongside their other duties on board ship.

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How Meteorology became part of the Royal Navy

Part One

Despite the fact that we are an island race who have been reliant upon ships to leave these shores from time immemorial and, more importantly, have needed ships and some sort of navy to repel the invading hoards; meteorology and the Royal Navy have been seriously linked together for less than two hundred years. In fact the RN has had its own meteorological branch for just short of one hundred years. Through a series of articles it is hoped to reveal some of this fascinating history for the very first time.

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An Amusing Winter Tale

It's late autumn and the Native American Indians on a remote reservation in South Dakota asked their new chief if the coming winter was going to be cold or mild.
Since he was a chief in a modern society, he had never been taught the old secrets. When he looked at the sky, he couldn't tell what the winter was going to be like.
Nevertheless, to be on the safe side, he told his tribe that the winter was indeed going to be cold and that the members of the village should collect firewood to be prepared.
But, being a practical leader, after several days, he got an idea. He went to the phone booth, called the National Weather Service and asked, 'Is the coming winter going to be cold?'

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Autumn Leaf Fall

November already and as we lose an hour with the clocks back to GMT times for another six months, it now seems to darken very early. I used to worry, as a very young lad in late October, if it would be dark enough for fireworks at 7.30pm (my usual bedtime) by November 5th, but it always was! Something else I recall is that by then we would have gathered up huge piles of leaves ready to burn on the nights bonfire but recently many trees still seem yet to have shed their leaves by this date. So are we really seeing later leaf fall or is my old memory playing tricks?

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