the east coast of the Avalon Peninsula was not very heavy and melted 

 so rapidly that by 18 May there was none left south of the latitude 

 of Cape St. Francis. St. John's harbor was blocked by close pack 

 from 10-14 May, inclusive. 



North of the Grand Banks area a strip of close pack ice 10 to 40 

 miles wide extended northward along the coastline from Togo Island 

 beyond Belle Isle during the entire month. Many bergs were dis- 

 tributed throughout the length of this pack. By the middle of May 

 the Strait of Belle Isle was almost clear of field ice, but heavy pack 

 blocking the eastern entrance of the strait kept this route closed to 

 navigation for the remainder of the month. 



The distribution of ice reported in May in the Grand Banks area 

 IS shown graphically in figure 1 1 . 



JUNE 



Except for several small bergs stranded close inshore along the 

 east and south coasts of the Avalon Peninsula the Grand Banks area 

 was clear of ice during the first 3 weeks of June. After the 21st of 

 the month several bergs moved south across the 49th parallel four 

 of them between longitudes 48°35' W. and 51°10' W., the remainder 

 close inshore along the east coast of Newfoundland where they 

 stranded. This ice was in the van of about 200 bergs released by the 

 breakup of the Labrador pack in May and June into the area inside 

 the 1,000-fathom curve between the Grand Banks and the latitude 

 of the Strait of Belle Isle. Except for five small bergs which stranded 

 m the bays along the east coast of the Avalon Peninsula none of 

 these 200 bergs ever reached as far south as the 48th parallel ' Seasonal 

 warming of the sea surface, prevailing southerly wind components 

 and the weakness of the Labrador Current combined to prevent 

 their advance south of that fine. 



By 13 June almost no field ice remained south of the main steamer 

 knes approaching the Strait of Belle Isle from the east-northeast 

 However, heavy patches of field ice from the disintegrating pack off 

 Labrador remamed just to the north of that route inside the 1 000- 

 fathom curve almost to the end of June. ' 



_ The distribution of ice reported in June in the Grand Banks area 

 is shown graphically in figure 12. 



JULY-AUGUST 



During July and August the Grand Banks area was clear of ice 

 except for four or five small bergs in the extreme northerly sector 

 between the 49th and 52d meridians. No bergs crossed the 48th 

 parallel during this period. In the area off Newfoundland inside the 

 1,000-fathom curve between the Grand Banks and the latitude of 

 Belle Isle, the number of bergs dwindled from about 100 on 1 July 

 to about two dozen on the last day of August. 



381304 — 56 2 7 



