8 JUNE 2010 EXTENDED FORECAST

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:

THERE'S THREE THINGS IN LIFE WE JUST CAN'T DO:
1. WE CAN'T CONTROL MOTHER NATURE - WHEN WE TRY, WE SCREW IT UP.......
2. WE CAN'T "UNRING" A BELL - DON'T BELIEVE ME? JUST TRY IT.........
3. WE CAN'T FIX STUPID - THOSE OF US THAT THINK WE CAN ARE JUST PLAIN IGNORANT.........

8 JUNE 2010 EXTENDED FORECAST

TODAY AND WEDNESDAY 8TH AND 9TH - WINDY - SHOWERS WITH ISOLATED THUNDER THRU THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING - THEN PARTLY CLOUDY LATE TONITE AND INTO WEDNESDAY - TEMP MID/HIGH 70'S

THURSDAY 10TH - PARTLY CLOUDY - THEN MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS - GUSTY SOUTH WINDS - TEMP LOW 80'S

FRIDAY 11TH - PARTLY TO MOSTLY CLOUDY - TEMP NEAR 90

SATURDAY 12TH - PARTLY CLOUDY - THEN MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH AFTERNOON AND EVENING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS - (POSSIBLE STRONG THUNDER) - GUSTY SOUTH WINDS - TEMP MID 80'S

SUNDAY THRU FRIDAY - 13TH THRU 18TH - AN OVERALL GOOD WEEK SETTING UP. TEMPS WILL BE NEAR NORMAL. BEST SHOT AT PRECIP LOOKS TO BE LATE WEDNESDAY/EARLY THURSDAY AS A FAST MOVING SYSTEM GETS ESTABLISHED OVER THE DAKOTAS AND MOVES EAST......

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D-DAY? DAMN, DID WE FORGET?

JUNE 6TH, 1944........D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred. The initial D in D-Day has had various meanings in the past, while more recently it has obtained the connotation of "Day" itself, thereby creating the phrase "Day-Day", or "Day of Days".

The best known D-Day is June 6, 1944 — the day of the Normandy landings — initiating the Western Allied effort to liberate mainland Europe from Nazi occupation during World War II.

The Normandy landings were the landing operations of the Allied invasion of Normandy, also known as Operation Neptune and Operation Overlord, during World War II. The landings commenced on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 (D-Day), beginning at 6:30 AM British Double Summer Time (UTC+2). In planning, D-Day was the term used for the day of actual landing, which was dependent on final approval.

The assault was conducted in two phases: an air assault landing of 24,000 American, British, Canadian and Free French airborne troops shortly after midnight, and an amphibious landing of Allied infantry and armoured divisions on the coast of France commencing at 6:30 AM. There were also subsidiary 'attacks' mounted under the codenames Operation Glimmer and Operation Taxable to distract the German forces from the real landing areas.

The operation was the largest amphibious invasion of all time, with over 160,000 troops landing on 6 June 1944. 195,700 Allied naval and merchant navy personnel in over 5,000 ships were involved. The invasion required the transport of soldiers and material from the United Kingdom by troop-laden aircraft and ships, the assault landings, air support, naval interdiction of the English Channel and naval fire-support. The landings took place along a 50-mile (80 km) stretch of the Normandy coast divided into five sectors: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword.

OPERATIONS:

The Allied invasion was detailed in several overlapping operational plans. The armed forces use codenames to refer to the planning and execution of specific military operations. Operation Overlord was the codename for the Allied invasion of northwest Europe. The assault phase of Operation Overlord was known as Operation Neptune. Operation Neptune began on D-Day (6 June 1944) and ended on 30 June 1944. By this time, the Allies had established a firm foothold in Normandy. Operation Overlord also began on D-Day, and continued until Allied forces crossed the River Seine on 19 August 1944.

WEATHER:

Only a few days in each month were suitable for launching the operation, because both a full moon during the hours of darkness and a spring tide were required: the former to illuminate navigational landmarks for the crews of aircraft, gliders and landing craft, and the latter to provide the deepest possible water to help safe navigation over defensive obstacles placed by the Germans in the surf on the seaward approaches to the beaches. Allied Expeditionary Force Supreme Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower had tentatively selected 5 June as the date for the assault. The weather was fine during most of May, but this deteriorated in early June. On 4 June, conditions were clearly unsuitable for a landing; wind and high seas would make it impossible to launch landing craft from larger ships at sea, and low clouds would prevent aircraft finding their targets. The Allied troop convoys already at sea were forced to take shelter in bays and inlets on the south coast of Britain for the night.

It seemed possible that everything would have to be cancelled and the troops returned to their embarkation camps (which would be almost impossible, as the enormous movement of follow-up formations into them was already proceeding). The next full moon period would be nearly a month away. At a vital meeting on 5 June, Eisenhower's chief meteorologist (Group Captain J.M. Stagg) forecast a brief improvement for 6 June. General Bernard Montgomery and Eisenhower's Chief of Staff General Walter Bedell Smith wished to proceed with the invasion. Leigh Mallory was doubtful, but Admiral Bertram Ramsay believed that conditions would be marginally favourable. On the strength of Stagg's forecast, Eisenhower ordered the invasion to proceed. In the event, prevailing overcast skies limited Allied air support, and no serious damage was done to the beach defences on Omaha and Juno.

The Germans meanwhile took comfort from the existing poor conditions, which were worse over Northern France than over the Channel itself, and believed no invasion would be possible for several days. Some troops stood down, and many senior officers were away for the weekend. Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, for example, took a few days' leave to celebrate his wife's birthday. While dozens of division, regimental, and battalion commanders were away from their posts at war games, the Allied forces were attacking.