There were northerly winds over North Atlantic in the months before the RMS Titanic left port. These winds likely played a role in pushing icebergs farther south than normal and into the Titanic’s path.
When the Titanic left port in Queenstown, Ireland, on Thursday, April 11, 1912, it sailed under brisk winds from the north-northwest at 15-20 knots and a temperature of about 50 degrees.
Two days earlier, well to the west in Boston, a few thousand fans shivered in the cold and snow flurries as the Red Sox beat Harvard University 2-0 in the first game ever played at Fenway Park.
On April 12, the winds were from the west-southwest at about 15 knots and the noon temperature was about 60 degrees. As the ship continued west, the skies got cloudier as a weak cold front approached. The noontime temperatures on Saturday, April 12, were still around 60 degrees, but another cold front (associated with the previous Fenway flurries) was to the west and north of the ship.
As the Titanic passed through the second cold front on Sunday, April 14, the winds switched to northwest at 20 knots. The noon temperature was around 50 degrees, but by 7:30 p.m., the temperature was 39 degrees.
On Sunday, nighttime temperatures dropped below freezing, and the skies cleared and the winds calmed. A large Arctic air mass was over the area on the clear, star-lit night with subfreezing temperatures and calm winds that resulted in a sea “like glass.”
Icebergs were known to be in the region, but the calm winds made spotting them difficult. To spot icebergs during the night, lookouts searched for wind-driven waves breaking around their bases.
The ship struck an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. Sunday, April 14.
On Monday morning, after the sinking, one survivor reported a breeze that came up around dawn to add to the morning chill. Photographs of the rescue that morning show small waves on the ocean surface, confirming that report.
