managed to remain in the southeast and south flowing Labrador 

 Current and drifted south of 47° N. The other half remained sus- 

 pended between 48°30' N. and 49°30' N., and between 52° W. and 

 the coast as the west branch of the Labrador Current was very weak. 

 The feature of the year occurred on the last day of April and the first 

 week in May as an intense stationary low east of Newfoundland pro- 

 duced 35 to 50 knot northerly winds for 6 days on the Gi:and Banks, 

 driving the remaining offshore bergs to the south at a rate of 30-40 

 miles per day. The climax of the year was on 5 May with the eastern- 

 most and southernmost penetration of ice for 1962 with a berg at 

 43°24' N., 49°14' W., and a berg at 45°45' N., 44°30' W. Those bergs 

 that drifted east of the Grand Banks all melted by 11 May, and there 

 were no bergs east of 51°30' W. on that date. The second group of 

 bergs close along the coast of the Avalon Peninsula disintegrated 

 much more slowly in the cooler waters with a couple lasting until 

 late June near Cape Race. A second movement of about 50 bergs 

 eastward along the north slope of the Banks developed at the end of 

 May and continued through June. The general drift pattern of these 

 bergs was also easterly out of the Labrador Current to the north of 

 Flemish Cap. Only one of these bergs managed to remain in the 

 Labrador Current and drift south of 47° N. This berg was last sighted 

 at 45°30' N., 48°58' W. on 24 July. 



The field ice conditions on the Grand Banks were lighter than 

 average. The close pack ice was generally confined north of 48° N. 

 and west of 52° W., except for belts and patches drifting to the 

 southern limits of 46° N. on 7 March and east in the Labrador Current 

 to the eastern limit of 49° W. on 20 April. The Grand Banks region 

 as far north as Funk Island was free of all field ice by 25 April, although 

 some scattered strings and loose patches drifted to a southeast limit 

 of 48°30' N., 51°00' W. near the end of May. The Notre Dame- 

 Belle Isle area experienced a slightly more difficult than usual pack 

 ice year. The usual situation where the supply is reduced by offshore 

 drifts of pack ice along the Northern Newfoundl-and and Labrador 

 Coasts into warmer water did not occur in 1962. An unusually large 

 amount of bergs, estimated well over 100, were driven into the Gulf 

 of St. Lawrence through the Belle Isle Strait. Some of these bergs 

 eventually reached Cabot Strait and three were known to drift south 

 through Cabot Strait into the Atlantic again before disintegration. 

 Detailed monthly ice conditions appear in a later section. 



AERIAL ICE OBSERVATION 



Aerial ice observation was performed by three R5D aircraft and 

 one SC-130B of the U.S. Coast Guard Air Detachment at Argentia, 

 Newfoundland, under the operational control of Commander, Inter- 

 national Ice Patrol. This year marked the end of the Douglas 

 Skymaster (RSD) aircraft for aerial observation bv the Ice Patrol and 



