World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns -- Turkey -- Gallipoli Peninsula
It is to be noted that these gales or changes in the weather are
usually of three or seven days’ duration, the first day generally being
the strongest, and for some of these regular winds the natives have
special names.
November almost always comes in fine, with a lovely first ten days
or so. It, however, becomes rather sharp at night, and a very marked
period now of cold weather is to be expected—a cold snap, in fact.
This snap is generally in the second or third week of the month, and
only lasts a few days, the weather going back to fine, warm, and calm
till the end of the month. Barring such cold snap the month is marked
by fine weather and absence of wind, and many people consider it the
most glorious month of the year, the sunsets being especially fine. The
cold snap is rather a peculiar one. Snow has been seen on November 4th,
and, if I remember rightly, the battle of Lule Bourgas three years ago
was fought on November 5th, 6th, and 7th, and during such time there
raged a storm of rain and sleet, succeeded by two or three nights of
hard frost, which caused the death of many a poor fellow who had been
wounded and was lying out.
Another year there was a very heavy snow-storm on November 16th and
17th. Although the weather may be of this nature for several days, it
recovers and drops back into calm, warm weather.
In the last days of November or the first days of December another
period is entered upon. There is generally a heavy south wind lasting
from three to seven days, which is succeeded by a lovely spell of fine
weather, generally perfectly calm and warm, which brings one well
through December. From a little before Christmas or just after, the
weather varies greatly. The marked periods are passed—the weather may
be anything, sometimes calm and mild, sometimes varied by rains, with
strong north winds, but no seriously bad weather; in one word, no real
winter weather need be looked for until, as the natives put it, the old
New Year—otherwise the New Year, old style, which is January 14th, our
style—comes in.
After January 14th, or a few days later, the weather is almost
invariably bad; there is always a snow blizzard or two, generally
between January 20th and 25th. These are real bad blizzards, which
sometimes last from three to seven days; and anything in the way of
weather may happen for the next six weeks or two months. The snow has
been known to lie for six weeks. Strong southerly gales succeed, as a
rule, the northerly gales, but one thing is to be noted: that the south
and west winds no longer bring rain; it is the north and north-east
which bring snow and rain.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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