“Weather prediction is not a science that can be learned mechanically,” said Adolf Hitler in October 1941. Germany had invaded Russia, and forecasting was becoming an important issue.
Hitler, who had not completed secondary school, believed weather prediction required a particular knack, rather than instruments and scientific models: “What we need are men gifted with a sixth sense, who live in nature and with nature – whether or not they know anything about isotherms and isobars.”
The Führer wanted to recruit a corps of natural talents and install telephones in their rural shacks. They would call in forecasts based on their feelings and German lore, interpreting the signs from clouds, birds, insects and plants.
This plan, though never carried out, may have caused some frustration among the Wehrmacht’s scientific weather services. Their operations included meteorologists, weather ships and unmanned weather stations in the Arctic. The Luftwaffe had 12 weather reconnaissance squadrons flying converted bombers as accurate forecasts were vital for planning military operations.
Hitler’s comments indicated he was moving away from scientific expertise and towards a more intuitive approach. The first snow fell in western Russia on 7 October but no winter clothing was issued. The catastrophe for the German military that followed suggests that sometimes it pays to listen to the experts.
