Let's Talk About the Weather...

In the B & O WINTER command simulation, extreme cold negatively impacts morale, which then reduces marching speeds and combat effectiveness. Visibility determines whether it is possible to see an enemy force on the other side of a creek or a few miles away. Precipitation also slows down marching speeds. These the three factors (temperature, visibility and precipitation) are part of the simulations weather model.

In draft one of the simulation manual, I wanted to use weather indicators specific to each county. This was going to prove time consuming and challenging, especially given that I would have to determine which county a unit was in on a map that does not have the counties demarcated.

In draft two of the manual, I experimented with using one set of weather indicators for the entire campaign theater, using data from Romney. This is much simpler, but seemed too simplistic.

In draft three, I have divided the weather into three weather zones. Here is the excerpt from the manual (draft 3, pp. 9-10)

Weather: The Romney Expedition of January 1862 was marred by poor weather that affected the performance and morale of the troops under Jackson. It aggravated conditions that led to men under Brigadier General William W. Loring lodging official complaints against Jackson with the Confederate War Department. In B & O WINTER, weather will affect visibility, morale, health, and marching distances by matching conditions for the day against modifier tables.  Weather conditions are often very local in West Virginia, but they will be applied across three weather zones to simplify the simulation.

Conditions will be based on historical records for the corresponding date in a random year that records were kept in Cumberland, Romney and Winchester. For example, if the year 1978 is chosen, the weather for January 7^th 1862 will not be the historical weather conditions for that date, but the recorded weather conditions for January 7^th 1978 in each of the counties of the campaign theatre. Weather conditions will include temperature, precipitation and visibility.

The Weather Zones that will be used in the simulation as are follows:

1. Upper Potomac (Cumberland): The area north or west of the B & O Railroad, inclusive of railroad depots.  
2. Highlands (Romney): The area south and east of the B & O Railroad and west of Great North Mountain, Bear Garden Ridge and Sandy Ridge
3. The Valley (Winchester): The area east of Great North Mountain, Bear Garden Ridge and Sandy Ridge  and the area south of the B & O Railroad.