How did weather play a role during World War I for the Allies?
Published: 28 July 2026
By Raymond Sanchez
via the FOX Weather website
Battery D 105th
Gun from Battery D, 105th Field Artillery, showing American flag, hoisted after last shot was fired when the armistice took effect, Etraye, France, U.S. Army Signal Corps, November 11, 1918.
As the 250th birthday of the United States has officially passed, its history remains forever ingrained in our nation’s roots, as we look back at the events that took place and the help from allies that shaped it.
World War I was known as “the war to end all wars,” claiming the lives of 15 to 22 million people.
Weather played a role in the war in various ways, as battles were won and lost under different conditions.
Both England and the U.S. established meteorology programs within the military after discovering the major role it played in daily combat.
In 1915, a year into the war, the Meteorological Field Service, known as Meteor, conducted operations from British Headquarters in Montreuil, France, where two meteorologists, Ernest Gold and AEM Geddes, were granted temporary appointments to the general list as captain and lieutenant, respectively.
This operation became a 24/7 service for the first time, supported by the Meteorological Office in London.
Along with the demands of the war, the U.S. military was established within the Signal Corps, as commanders needed information to support anti-aircraft defenses, long-range artillery, aviation and general operational planning.
The Army Signal Corps is responsible for communications and information systems that support all the armed forces.
They recruited experts outside the army to meet these needs and one individual, William R. Blair, received a commission as a major in the Signal Corps Officer Reserve and became the Chief of the Meteorological Service for the American Expeditionary Forces, according to the U.S. Army.
Throughout the four-year war, soldiers endured harsh conditions of torrential rain and sub-zero temperatures on the Western Front, conditions that significantly influenced the outcome of some battles.
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