the past 17 days. It is estimated that four bergs drifted south of 

 48° N. during March, considerably below the average number. 



The Gulf of St. Lawrence was almost entirely covered with winter 

 ice by mid-March, but the constant discharge of considerable ice 

 through southern Cabot Strait, due to average west-northwesterly 

 winds, kept the ice thickness down. By the end of March there was 

 considerable open water from the shores of Quebec south to 48°30' N., 

 west into the river and northeast into the arm. However, the 

 southern gulf and western Newfoundland coasts were experiencing 

 difficult ice conditions due to heavy ridging and compacting of ice 

 from the west-northwesterly winds. The southern limits of the sea 

 ice discharging from Cabot Strait remained fairly constant near 45° N., 

 with eastern limits generally between 57° W. and 58° W., and the 

 maximum combined limits existing near the end of the month. The 

 Canadian Department of Transport reported that all major gulf and 

 Newfoundland ports continued to remain open throughout, with some 

 assistance from icebreakers required. The shipping track from Cape 

 Ray into the St. Lawrence River was reported navigable by 29 March. 

 For existing ice conditions on 13 March and the plot of ice sighted and 

 reported for March, see figures 7 and 14. 



APRIL 



The weather pattern of cold strong west-northwesterly flow over 

 the northern Grand Banks and coastal waters to the north prevailed 

 into the first week of April. The March isotherm chart indicated 

 colder-than-normal sea surface temperatures. See figure 1. How- 

 ever, flights on the 2d and 3d indicated that the few bergs moving 

 east-southeast along the northeast slope of the Grand Banks were 

 rapidly deteriorating, mainly because of their small size, shape, and 

 the rough sea conditions. At this time there were only four bergs, all 

 small, south of 48° N., and only three bergs east of 49° W. There 

 were seven bergs between 49° W. and 51° W. along 48° N., and about 

 17 bergs, mostly small, between 48°30' N., 49°20' N., and 50°40' W., 

 52°30' W. Of these 30-or-so bergs, one was large, six were medium 

 sized, and the remainder small. For ice conditions on 3 April, see 

 figure 8. Although the sea ice extended east to 47° W. on this date, the 

 southern limits on the Grand Banks had receded to 47°30' N., con- 

 sisting of a belt of open pack ice 60 miles in width at 50° W. tapering 

 to 20 miles at 47° W. 



The spell of strong northwesterly flow over the Grand Banks was 

 finally broken on the 5th, with the cyclonic track displaced farther 

 south than usual across the southern Grand Banks. On this date the 

 M/V Willowpool reported two bergs both just south of 47°, with one 

 located at 46°48' N., 45°29' W. This was to be the easternmost berg 

 reported in the Grand Banks area for the year. For the first time this 

 year a berg had drifted south of 47° N. With the change in weather 



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