bergs aground close ashore or trapped in the bays. Considermg 

 the berg distribution and barring abnormal westerly air flow in April, 

 a major iceberg threat to Track C or B before May was unlikely. 



A flight on the 22d, north along the coast of Newfoundland and 

 Labrador, to 53° 30' N. revealed some interesting information, some 

 of which had already been suspected. The most important fact 

 established was the paucity of offshore bergs north of Funk Island to 

 53°30' N. No bergs were sighted from Belle Isle to just south of 

 Spotted Island. Approximately 125 bergs were sighted in the vicinity 

 of Spotted Island to South Wolf Island. Another interesting fact 

 was the small supply of pack ice to the north. There was no pack ice 

 from St. Barbe Island to Cape Bauld and the pack ice north of Belle 

 Isle to 53°30' N. was close inshore and west of 55° W. This informa- 

 tion was hardly surprising as the air circulation over the Belle Isle 

 Straits and the east coast of Labrador had consistently been northerly 

 to easterly since the end of February, with air temperatures con- 

 sistently above freezing in this region. Reports from U.S. Naw 

 Hydro Ice Reconnaissance flights further north to Greenland indi- 

 cated that the limits of pack ice off Labrador during the 3d week of 

 March were less than the minimum limits shown on the U.S.N. 

 Hydro Pilot Chart for March. This suspicion of a light ice year for 

 the East Newfoundland and Grand Banks region was strengthened 

 by fact. 



It is estimated that 14 bergs drifted south of 48° N. during the 

 month, well below the average of 26 for March during the years from 

 1950-61 . The limits of the field ice were well below the average. The 

 key factor in the ice conditions is the weather, mainly the direction 

 and speed of the wind in the ice regions. During March the air circu- 

 lation in the East Coast Newfoundland and Labrador Coast region 

 was most unusual. The weather was characterized by a sustained 

 system of stationary lows just east of Newfoundland causing a con- 

 sistent northeasterly flow of warm moist mid-Atlantic air in the areas. 

 From Belle Isle to the north along the east coast of Labrador, the 

 wind direction was between north and east for 29 days out of 31. The 

 air temperatures were consistently above freezing in this area and 

 instead of new ice forming, there was a steady disintegTation taking 

 place balancing the supply from the north. The reason for the almost 

 nonexistent supply of pack ice and offshore bergs to the north at the 

 end of March is obvious. The combination of a mild winter in New- 

 foundland, Grand Banks area and the abnormal easterly air flow 

 during March also resulted in warmer than average sea surface tem- 

 peratures in the Grand Banks region. See figures 1 and 2, isotherm 

 charts for 1-15 March and 16-31 March respectively. Figure 15, 

 the ice chart for March shows the maximum and minimum field ice 

 limits for the month and the sightings and reports of bergs and 

 growlers for March. 



695-672 0-64-2 9 



