THE WEATHER STATION.

Wheelus Airbase was home to the headquarters of the 29th Weather Squadron, which was active from 1945 to 1969, and controlled all U.S Air Force weather activities for the whole of the South European Mediterranean region².

The Wheelus weather station dealt with all weather needs, such as local forecasting, and general purpose forecasting. These forecasts were mainly for aviation purposes, and were used for the tactical fighter and military transport units, local airports, and unplanned arrivals and departures at Wheelus. The station also had a role as a severe weather warning centre, for the mediterranean area.

Information was received through a temperamental E-W radio-fax link from Morocco, a radio-teletype link from an airbase in Germany and radio transmissions from the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). The WMO transmissions were received in a room containing six or so positions, manned by local Libyan and Italian civilians, armed with radio receivers, typewriters, and earphones. The weather reports were sent in morse code and were typed onto paper rolls by the operators, with numeric characters arriving through the earphones at steady intervals of 15 wpm. The paper was then torn from the roll and dispatched to the analysis room.

Once received in the analysis room, the data would be plotted onto 4’ x 3’ base maps, which covered a vast area, starting from Kamchatka and continuing westwards across Russia and Europe towards North America and from Norway south towards Central Africa. The data was plotted on the maps in India ink, by ‘plotters’ using dip pens, and each plotter had a small bottle of bleach for correcting errors and spills.The surface weather maps were redrawn every six hours, and the upper air maps, every twelve hours. Once these were completed, the analyst would manually draw in the isotherms, isobars and locating surface fronts, with the use of black and coloured pencils and corrections were made with the famous Pink Pearl erasers³.

The local forecasts from Wheelus Weather Station were known to be fairly accurate, but situations such as fog or ghibli could cause problems, as the temperature during a ghibli could become extreme, causing runway problems, and engine failure due to the fine dust. All departures from Wheelus were entered in a log and two routes were planned, so whilst enroute, if the initial destination was found to be unsafe, weatherwise, an alternative route had been planned. Incoming flights to Wheelus could be diverted to Idris Airport or to Luqa and Halfar in Morocco, as these two airports were known to have weather, which was the opposite to conditions at Wheelus.

All operators, plotters and analysts covered eight hour shifts, which overlapped for briefings. These shifts usually were on the basis of two days on one shift, two days off shift, followed by two days on the next shift, this went on to cover all shifts throughout the 24 hours period. During their free time, the forecasters were encouraged to take flights to check on the routes which they plotted and analysed, this was to give them a better idea of flying conditions and any possible problems which the aircraft could come across.

After 20 years of service to the United States Airforce and others, Wheelus Weather Station closed in 1970, along with the rest of the base and U.S Air Force staff were relocated to various bases worldwide, taking with them their incredible knowledge and skills⁴.