How did the "weather conditions" for an invasion at Pas de Calais compare to those of Normandy?

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I found an article in Weather, the Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, that discusses the forecasting for D-Day. The various maps in the article make it clear that the Pas de Calais is not far enough from Normandy to have significantly different summer weather on average.

The decision for Normandy had been made by the start of 1944, well before it was known what the summer weather of 1944 would be like. Important reasons for the choice included:

  • Close enough to England for fighter cover to be available from English airfields.
  • Not entirely on a peninsula, whose base could be defended by the Germans.
  • Not where the Germans expected it, which was the Pas de Calais.

The German seem to have regarded the sea voyage as the most difficult part, and thus that shortening it would be very desirable. The Allies had experience of large landing operations by this time, and had different priorities. The Pas de Calais was heavily fortified and garrisoned, and if it was taken, rivers and canals offered the Germans defence lines to restrict expansion out of the area. The main drawback of Normandy was the lack of ports, and this could be tackled by taking along prefabricated harbours.

Once Normandy had been decided on, an extensive deception operation was staged to convince the Germans that the invasion would be at the Pas de Calais. Even after the Normandy landings had happened, deception continued to the effect that this was a feint to draw troops away from the main landing site. This helped keep the German rate of reinforcements low enough during the build-up of Allied forces that the Germans never made any progress with pushing the Allies back towards the sea.

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