For instance, table III indicates that the snowfell varies very 
little. Therefore, accurate predictions for this element are relatively 
easy. Temperature forecasting, however, is not so easy, as is evidenced 
in figure 20, which shows considerable variation. For example, on 15 
November 197 there was an accumulation of about 650 (9 F.) degree days 
of frost as compared to 1,200 (° Fe) degree days of frost on the same 
date in 1953. In referring to figure 23 this difference would mean 
approximately 10 inches more ice (19 versus 29 inches), Of course, 
the comparison assumes el] other influencing factors to be the same. 
This is clearly an extreme case. In other years the temperature values 
are more nearly equal. 
VI. CONCLUSIONS 
The area of North Star Bugt and Wolstenholme Fjord constitutes an 
open bay with free water exchange at all depths from surface to the 
bottom. The special characteristics of this area from an oceanographic 
standpoint are 1) the presence of contimal water exchange and hence 
temporal continuity in thermohaline structure, 2) the relatively small 
importance of runoff water, and 3) the small annual change in surface 
water temperetures during the open season. 
North Star Bugt, although a harbor suitable for shipping operations, 
is not a closed water system but, instead, is an arm of Wolstenholme 
Fjord and open at all levels. Since the water of the bay is contimally 
mixed with that of the fjord, the thermchaline structure remains re- 
latively constant from week to week. This continuity, in turn, is an 
essential prerequisite for long-range ice forecasting, in which the 
thermohaline structure must be studied in early autumn and the heat 
budget utilized on the basis of the early sampling. It also makes 
possible the use of an oceanographic sampling in deep water to predict 
ice growth in the bay. 
There is relatively little runoff into North Star Bugt, coming mostly 
from the Pitufik River. This runoff stops by the first week in September, 
so that there is essentially no runoff problem thereafter; the water sa= 
linity remains nearly constant, increasing slightly due to evaporation. 
The combination of the above characteristics makes North Star Bugt 
a suitable harbor for the use of the techniques of long-range ice pre~ 
diction even though these techniques were developed for use in open- 
water areas, The 1953 long-range ice prediction verified satisfactorily, 
as shown by figures 23 and 2h). 
In one aspect North Star Bugt presents obstacles to long-range ice 
prediction methods. The techniques assume that the ice remains in situ 
once it is formed. In North Star Bugt, however, it is normal for the ice 
to break up in the area of the pier as often as three times during the 
freezeup period, sometimes not permanently until the first part of November. 
Similar movement of the ice will generally apply to the greater part of 
Baffin Bay north of 70° Ne 
