45 



COOPERATION WITH THE UNITED STATES WEATHER BUREAU 



As was done on previous patrols a meteorological map was con- 

 structed twice daily on board ship, the data being obtained from the 

 general synoptic reports broadcasted by the United States Weather 

 Bureau from Arlington at 10 a. m. and 10 p. m. In addition to this 

 the patrol ship was furnished with a daily forecast especially prepared 

 by the Weather Bureau. All this information was broadcasted by 

 phone to approaching steamers immediately following the ice broad- 

 casts. The report on fog conditions was one of the most important 

 features of this service from the standpoint of the steamship captain. 

 The element of fog to the Grand Banks region, it is obvious, greatly 

 increases the ever-present danger of collison with ice. 



Twice daily, at 8 a. m. and 8 p. m., a w^eather report was dis- 

 patched to the United States Weather Bureau, Washington, D. C, 

 and at the end of each cruise a more detailed report was forwarded 

 b}' mail to Washington weather officials. 



ICE FORECASTING BY MEANS OF THE WEATHER 



One of the more important scientific problems that has con- 

 fronted the ice patrol for some time is the desire to obtain advance 

 information regarding the annual amount of ice to be expected south 

 of Newfoundland. If the master of the Titanic had known, as we 

 can clearly see to-day, that the year 1912 was one in which icebergs 

 by the hundreds invaded the North Atlantic to low latitudes, he 

 would probably have navigated his command farther south, and 

 more cautiously, past the Arctic ice barrier. The amount of ice 

 drifting out of the north into the open Atlantic is subject to great 

 annual variations, for instance, in 1912 there were approximately' 

 1,200 bergs counted south of Newfoundland while in 1924 there 

 were only a total of 11. Several investigations ^'^'^ have been 

 made of the relation between the amounts of ice in the northeastern 

 North Atlantic' and logical contributary factors, but only a few 

 similar papers have dealt with the ice stream past Newfoundland.^- ^ 



All of the investigators, Schott, Mecking, Brenneck, Weisse, and 

 Meinardus found that the wind was the most important factor which 

 governs the southward drift of Polar ice. The ice patrol with the 

 assistance of the British Meteorological Office and more recently, the 

 United States Weather Bureau, has begim an investigation into the 



' Meinardus, W.: Periodische Schwankungen der Eisdrift. Ann. Hydr., Hamburg, 1906; pp. 148-149 



227-239, 278-285. 



' Weise, W.: Polareis und atmospharische Schwankungen. Geo. Ann. Stockholm, 6 (1924); pp. 273-299. 



3 Brennecke, W.: Beziehungen zwischen der Luftdruckverteilung und den Eisverhaltnisse des Ostgroen 

 landisehen Meeres. Ann. Hydr., Hamburg, 1904; pp. 49-62. 



< Mecking, L.: Die Eisdrift aus dem Bereich der Baffin Bai usw. Verotf. Inst. Meersk, Berlin 7, 1906; 

 p. 148. 



« Schott, G.: Uber die Grenzen des Trcibeises bei der Ncufundlandbank sowie uber eine Beziehung 

 zwischen neufundlandischen und ostgronlandischen Treibeis. Ann. Hydr., Hamburg, 1904; pp. 305-309. 



