occurring during July and August. January and February are the driest 
months, averaging less than Q.l1 inch per month. An interesting feature, 
in contrast to the low amount of precipitation, is that nearly half of 
the days throughout each month record a trace or more of precipitation. 
The amount of cloudiness scmewhet parallels the precipitation pattern, 
the greatest mean total cloud amount being observed during the summer and 
the least during winter. July observations show a mean total cloud 
amount of fowr=tenths or more about 78 percent of the time, whereas 
in December, the percentage drops to 5. Mean total cloud amounts of 
eight tenths or more were observed 68 percent of the time in July and 
39 percent of the time in December. 
Surface winds are comparatively weak throughout the year, averaging 
10 knots or less approximately 80 percent of the time, with considerable 
monthly variation. Almost all of the stronger winds are from an easterly 
direction. 
Ti. OCEANOGRAPHY 
The most important oceanographic factors in the formation and growth 
of ice are surface water temperatures, which indicate the heat loss and 
gain at the sea surface, and physical properties, which show how the 
heat logs and gain will be distributed throughout the water mass. Figure 
1 shows the location of the oceanographic stations (sites A and B) occupied 
in the area. 
Surface water temperatures in North Star Bugt vary little from year 
to year. Figure 2 shows the relationship between air and sea surface 
temperatures and indicates that the air temperature is higher than the 
water temperature until approximately 21 August. Air temperatures reach 
a peak near the end of July and decrease rapidly thereafter. Surface 
water temperatures lag behind the air temperatures by about 3 weeks, 
reaching a maximum near 16 August and decreasing slowly to the freezing 
temperature by the first week in Octcber, At this time, however, the 
air temperature is more than 10° F, colder than the water temperature. 
The reversal of the heat budget (the date when the water temperature 
begins to fall) can be placed at about 16 August. After that date it 
may be assumed that the water is losing heat continuously. 
The oceanographic structure was studied for four stations made at 
site A (fig. 1) on 29 September and 6, 12, and 21 October 1953. Observa= 
tions at site B, in shallow water, showed that the ice thickness was 
largely independent of depth. Changes in the oceanographic structure are 
show by the four station plots for site A (figs. 3, h, 5, and 6). Surface 
water temperatures and salinities are listed in table I. The gradual dis- 
appearance of the layer of warm water produced by the summer heating is 
illustrated by the oceanographic plots. Only the upper 100 meters were 
affected by this seasonal warming, while the water below 100 meters 
was nearly isothermal and isohaline, water temperature being about ~0.8° C. 
and salinity ranging between 33.70 and 33.90 °/oo. Cooling of the upper 
layer was steady and had evidently been proceeding from the time of the 
reversal of the heat budget. In the station profile of September 29 (fig. 
3), 5 days after the heat budget reversal, the surface water temperature 
