WEATHER in CHAOS - What does it mean?
Plain Truth Magazine
February 1962
Volume: Vol XXVII, No.2
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WEATHER in CHAOS - What does it mean?

Why has the world's weather become so VIOLENT and CHAOTIC? Read the little-known facts how the weather has affected history and how it will affect your nation's future.

   Hurricanes, floods, typhoons, tornadoes, and hailstorms — reports from all over the world reveal surprising CHAOTIC WEATHER PATTERNS! While some areas suffer from drought, others at the same moment are devastated by hurricanes and tornadoes.
   Why?
   The hurricane which hit America's Gulf Coast recently, was called the most fierce of the century! When "Carla" hit Port Lavaca with winds up to 173 miles an hour and ten-foot tidal waves, all but a thousand of its 10,000 residents had fled in one of the greatest evacuations in the face of a national calamity during modern times.
   Killer tornadoes erupted in the backwash of dying "Hurricane Carla" and smashed residential areas of Galveston to rubble. The property damage due to the hurricane and tornadoes was fantastic and amounted to hundreds of millions of dollars!
   And this is not all that has occurred in just the past few months. In the drought-stricken Los Angeles area, fires broke out and destroyed 456 homes valued at $24,000,000, including several film stars' and business executives' homes valued as high as $250,000 each.
   And so it goes throughout the nation and around the world. But WHY is the weather in such turmoil? Will the weather become better or worse in the future? It's time you knew the facts behind it all!

Weather in History

   Few people realize that the weather has played a vital role in shaping world events all down through history. First, there was the Flood during the time of Noah which totally changed the world of that time. Plagues of hail and fire were sent by God on the Egyptians in order to free the Israelites from slavery.
   In more recent times, the weather has played an important part in determining the outcome of wars. The first example we have took place during the attempted conquest of England by the Spanish Armada in 1588.
   Philip II of Spain was determined to conquer England and assembled what he thought to be the "Invincible Armada." The Spanish Armada comprised 149 ships compared to the 80 vessels of the English fleet. Despite these odds, the English decided to force an engagement when the Armada dropped anchor near Calais in the English Channel.
   Lighting eight fire-ships, the British sent them down with the tide toward the Spanish line. The Spanish galleons immediately cut their cables and sailed in panic out to sea. Captain Drake resolved at all costs to prevent their return, and at dawn the English ships closed in and used almost their last shot before the sun went down. Three great galleons had sunk, three had drifted helplessly on to the Flemish coast-but the bulk of the Spanish vessels remained.
   The work of destruction had been left to a mightier foe than Drake. Supplies fell short and the English vessels were forced to give up the chase, but the Spanish were unable to re-form their last chance to do so being destroyed by a GALE. The wind was so violently against them that they were forced to steer in a circuit around the British Isles in order to return to their home port. And so failed Philip's plan for the invasion of England and with it his dream of world domination.

French Invasion Twice Foiled

   The weather foiled two invasions of England attempted by the French. In 1759, when the French fleet at Brest attempted to join the troop transports assembled to carry on the projected invasion of England, the British pursued it to Quiberon Bay where it was attacked and destroyed in a heavy gale. A similar event happened once when God "breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind" (Psa. 48:7).
   Napoleon also resolved to conquer England. But Nelson gained the victory at Trafalgar which finally shattered Napoleon's schemes for invasion.
   Ten years later, it was through the power of British Arms, fighting with their Allies and helped by TIMELY RAIN, that Napoleon's career was ended at Waterloo. "If it had not rained the night between the 17th and 18th of June," wrote Victor Hugo, "the future of Europe would have been changed."

The Weather during World War I

   During the 1914-18 War, the Germans planned to extend their air offensive by using Zeppelins which were to drift silently with the wind across the target. The first raid of this kind was made in 1917. Here is the account of that raid given in a London newspaper:
   "Towards moonset on the evening of October 19, 1917, a fleet of eleven Zeppelins left Germany in what were thought to be ideal conditions for an attack on London — light westerly breezes, clear skies, and a low-lying mist. Guided by the then novel method of radio direction-finding, nine of the aircraft reached the Metropolis, one passing over the West End and dropping a bomb in Piccadilly Circus.
   "Meantime, an unforeseen cyclonic disturbance was forming off our southwest coast. While the ground mist thickened into fog, obliterating landmarks, the upper wind veered northward, and rapidly freshened from twenty to over fifty miles an hour at the invaders' height of 15,000 to 20,000 feet. The Zeppelins' directional radio apparatus failed, owing, it was believed, to the sudden intense cold, and, as a result, the raiders completely lost their bearings. All unawares, they were driven southward far off their homeward course" (The Observer, October 17, 1937).
   Lt. Col. Sir Alfred Rawlinson, who was actively connected with the defense of London, declared: "On that night London was once more defended by 'Powers' which were beyond the control of defense... Our faithful and invaluable ally the wind continued to 'freshen' with most persistent and truly gratifying regularity" (The Defense of London, 1915-18, p. 218).
   The weather brought about another victory for the Allies in 1918. On August 10th, the leading article in The Times reported: "The new offensive initiated under the command of Sir Douglas Haig is one of the greatest and most gratifying surprises of the war. Even the weather favored the Allies, for the assault was launched under cover of a thick mist. No offensive in which the British Army has participated has ever made so much progress on the opening day."
   Reports received from German sources confirmed the significance of this remarkable and surprising change of events in the complaint that "the Allies were favored by thick fog."

The Miracle of Dunkirk

   Many of the victories during World War II were due to favorable weather conditions. The weather made it possible for 335,000 men to be evacuated from Dunkirk. This evacuation would have been impossible had it not been for unusual weather conditions-a violent storm over France and a calm sea in the Channel.
   The story of what happened at Dunkirk was reported in the London Daily Telegraph: "As the story is told, two great wonders stand forth; and on them have turned the fortune of the troops.
   "I have talked to officers and men who have gotten safely back to England, and all of them tell of these two phenomena. The first was the GREAT STORM which broke over Flanders on Tuesday, May 28, and the other was the GREAT CALM which settled on the English Channel during the days following...
   "The story of the strange armada which took the men from the beaches of Dunkirk is already familiar in 'outline. In its complete fullness it will probably never be known, but it is undoubted that there was such a calmness over the whole of the waters of the English Channel for that vital period of days as has rarely been experienced. Those who are accustomed to the Channel testify to the strangeness of this calm; they are deeply impressed by the phenomenon of Nature by which it became possible for tiny craft to go back and forth in safety.
   "So the two miracles made possible what seemed impossible. In the darkness of the storm and the violence of the rain, formations which were eight to twelve miles from Dunkirk were able to move up on foot to the coast with scarcely any interruption from aircraft, for aircraft were unable to operate in such turbulent conditions" (July 8, 1940).
   In his memoirs, Mr. Churchill reveals that Hitler undoubtedly believed "that his air superiority would be sufficient to prevent a large-scale evacuation by sea" (World War II, vol. ii, p. 68). But the Fuehrer did not take the weather into his reckoning, for on May 30, General Halder, Chief of the German General Staff, complained in his diary: "Bad weather has grounded the Luftwaffe and now we must stand by and watch countless thousands of the enemy getting away to England right under our noses." But that is not all!
   After the episode at Dunkirk, Hitler made plans for invading England with his "Operation Sea Lion." UNFAVORABLE WEATHER again greatly added to the German difficulties.
   In the German Naval War Diary, there is a laconic entry for September 17: "The weather situation as a whole does not permit us to expect a period of calm... The Fuehrer therefore decides to postpone 'Sea Lion' indefinitely"
   (The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer, p. 773).

Bumper Harvests

   It takes good weather to produce abundant harvest. In 1942, England was blessed with bountiful harvests which were direly needed. The Minister of Agriculture made this comment on the B.B.C.'s 9 o'clock news broadcast: "Some Power has wrought a miracle in the English harvest fields this summer, for in this, our year of greatest need, the land has given us bread in greater abundance than we have ever known before."
   The capture of Casablanca in Morocco was aided by good weather conditions. The Allied General Staff had been warned by weather experts that after October 1 the Atlantic swell off the coast of Morocco would probably be too high for landing purposes. But at midnight on November 6-7, Admiral Hewitt decided to risk the weather and go for Casablanca. The weather favored him. The sea went down, and on November 7, his large collection of ships was approaching the coast in fair weather with a northeasterly wind and a smooth sea (A Sailor's Odyssey by Admiral Cunningham, p 491).

The Invasion of Sicily

   The weather was again a vital factor during the invasion of Sicily. How the weather aided the Allied invasion was related by Commander Anthony Kimmins:
   "Beyond the horizon there were other forces, some even larger than our own, approaching Sicily to arrive with us dead on zero hour. But although we could not see them, we knew that there was one thing which was worrying them just as much as us — the weather.
   "By all the rules' one expects fine weather and a calm sea in the Mediterranean at this time of the year, but now it suddenly started to blow, a real blow, Force 6, half a gale, from the northwest. This meant that it would be blowing down the coast and that many of the beaches would have little lee. The surf would be terrific, and it would be almost impossible for our landing craft to force their way through and land their precious cargoes intact.
   "We hoped and prayed that with sunset the wind would drop, but as the sun dipped over the horizon, the wind, if anything, seemed to grow stronger. It was strange and, to me anyhow, a terrifying feeling. In spite of everything that man's ingenuity could do to produce the most modern and up-to-date ships and landing craft; in spite of all the elaborate preparations: here we were, in the long run, at the mercy of the elements.
   "The memory of how a gale had sealed the fate of the Spanish Armada sent a nasty chill down one's spine. Foul weather: the eternal enemy of the sailor. But there was nothing to be done about it, and the ships ploughed on with many of the smaller craft taking it over green as they wallowed in the high seas, "But there was no turning back now, and as the darkness closed down and the ships ploughed on, I couldn't help thinking of some of the MIRACLES OF WEATHER which had already favored us in this war: Dunkirk; North Africa. Perhaps three times was too much to expect. Perhaps... and then it happened.
   "With barely an hour and a half to go before zero hour, the wind suddenly dropped, the white horses disappeared, and the swell went down quicker than I have ever seen it do before. It was so sudden that it was almost miraculous, as if... well, put it this way, many a silent prayer of thanks was offered up" (The Listener, July 2, 1943).
   The earlier unfavorable weather was actually a blessing in disguise. The enemy garrisons on the Sicilian coast had been on the alert for weeks. But the garrisons were lulled into a sense of security by the wild weather as they believed no one would attempt a landing in such conditions. They allowed their vigilance to relax, confined their small craft to harbor and themselves to bed.
   The successful campaign in Sicily was soon followed by the invasion of the mainland of Italy and Mussolini's dramatic downfall. It marked, as President Roosevelt declared, "the beginning of the end."

D-Day Weather

   Of all the miracles that took place during World War II, none would probably compare with the miracle of D-Day in 1944 when Allied troops landed in France to open the last campaign against Germany during that war.
   Every hazard that could be eliminated had been eliminated. Every foreseeable risk had been covered, and then came that weather. The official story of the invasion weather forecast was reported in The Times:
   "For months the meteorological section at Supreme Headquarters had been studying the relative advantages of May, June and July for weather. Using statistics, they found that the chances were about 50 to 1 against weather, tide, and moon being favorable for all services, land, sea and air...
   "On the morning of the assault the wind had moderated, and the cloud was not only well broken, but its base was at least 4,000 feet high, ideally suited for the large-scale airborne operations. In the hour preceding the landings, when perfect conditions for pinpoint bombings were so essential, there were large areas of temporarily clear sky, and throughout the critical time medium and light bombers were unhampered" (September 9, 1944).
   The invasion had been delayed for 24 hours because of bad weather. General Eisenhower made the "final and irrevocable decision" to proceed with the invasion on Tuesday, June 6. The importance of this decision was later revealed by the General when speaking in his home town:
   "This day eight years ago, I made the most agonizing decision of my life. I had to decide to postpone by at least twenty-four hours the most formidable array of fighting ships and of fighting men that was ever launched across the sea against a hostile shore. The consequences of that decision at that moment could not have been foreseen by anyone. If there were nothing else in my life to prove the existence of an almighty and merciful God, the events of the next twenty-four hours did it... The greatest break in a terrible outlay of weather occurred the next day and allowed that great invasion to proceed, with losses far below those we had anticipated..." (Time, June 16, 1952).
   What seemed to be an obstacle at the time to the Allies, was actually a blessing in many ways. The weather bluffed the enemy completely. "The German commanders were advised by their meteorological service that there could be no invasion in the period including June 6 because of continuous stormy weather. That is why D-Day forces, landing during a brief break in the windiest month in Normandy for at least 20 years, found so many German troops without officers, and why other enemy coastal units were having exercises at the time of the landings" (The Times, September 11, 1944).

"Preserved for Some Purpose"

   The weather was favorable to the Allies in the last war because it was God's purpose for Germany to lose that war. The Air Minister of England, Sir Archibald Sinclair, summed up the matter when he addressed the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland:
   "We have been most miraculously preserved. We must have been PRESERVED FOR SOME PURPOSE, and we must seek humbly to discover what that purpose is and be faithful to it... I feel sure that we must strive for the utmost for victory, and when we get victory it will solve none of the great problems which are troubling our hearts and minds, but it will give us opportunity.
   "Then the question will come: what use... shall we make of that opportunity. The thing that seems clear to me is that we shall not succeed in making the most of that opportunity IF WE FORSAKE THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD" (Evening Standard, May 21, 1943).
   God allowed the Allies to win World War II in order for this work of the WORLD TOMORROW broadcast and PLAIN TRUTH magazine to have an opportunity to carry the Gospel of God's coming Kingdom to the world before the end comes (Matt. 24:14).
   The WEATHER is an instrument in the hands of God through which He worked to bring victory to the Allies in the last war in the same way that He gave victory to the Israelites in their battle with the Philistines (I Sam. 7: 10).
   But the Israelitish nations of today Great Britain, United States and northwestern Europe — have forsaken God and His commandments. The world has forgotten that GOD CONTROLS THE WEATHER —"the Lord hath his way in the whirlwind (hurricane or tornado) and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers" (Nahum 1:3,4). Also read Matt. 8:24; Psalm 107:25 and 135:6,7.
   God uses the weather to either bless or curse a nation (Job 36:27-31 and 37:1-13). Why is our nation suffering from bad weather conditions? It is because of SIN — transgressing the commandments and laws of God! (Lev. 26 and Deut. 28).
   God is now punishing the nations of Great Britain and the United States. We can no longer expect favorable weather conditions. Russia, Germany and Europe, instead, will probably receive the good weather.
   MORE CHAOTIC WEATHER IS COMING! — So says Bible prophecy (Rev. 8:5-12; 11:6; 16:21). There will be more drought (Amos 4:7-8), more rampaging floods, more violent storms, and MORE devastating hurricanes and tornadoes!
   But you can be protected — IF you will REPENT now (Acts 2:38) and turn to God for His divine protection that He will give to those who are obeying and serving Him (Nahum 1:7).
   Watch world events and PRAY that you will be accounted worthy to escape catastrophic weather YET TO COME!

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Plain Truth MagazineFebruary 1962Vol XXVII, No.2