miles wide was reported between 44°59' N., 58°30' W., and 45° 10' 

 N., 58°10' W., on the 27th. Heavy ice had persisted in this general 

 vicinity at the southern edge of the pack throughout most of the 

 month and vessels were able to pass north of this ice for about a 

 week before it had disappeared. The Nova Scotian banks were 

 entirely clear by the first of May and the only ice of consequence 

 in the entire St. Lawrence area was that in the Strait of Belle Isle 

 and immediate approaches. The vicinity of the Strait will be 

 treated further in the discussion of the Newfoundland area. 



In summarizing, the 1944 ice season in the St. Lawrence area was 

 less severe than an average year. The ice was late in forming in 

 the early winter ; the gulf broke out earlier than usual in the spring, 

 the ice was relatively light, and spread over the banks to an average 

 or less than average extent. At no time was the route north of 

 Sable Island entirely cut off by ice, but the margin occasionally was 

 close. For the period February through April routes outside of 

 Sable Island were preferable for trans-Atlantic traffic, and traffic 

 from the United States to Newfoundland. 



NEWFOUNDLAND-LABRADOR AREA 



In January pack ice was pushing south along the Labrador coast 

 and new ice was forming in that area. The field in the vicinity of 

 Cape Harrison, near latitude 55° N., was 65 miles wide on the 18th 

 of the month, but it was not until early February that appreciable 

 amounts of heavy ice reached Newfoundland waters. As in the 

 St. Lawrence area the season was retarded up to a month or more 

 as compared to a normal year. A period of cold weather during 

 early February caused new ice to form rapidly which by the 6th 

 of the month extended south to a latitude of about 48°30' N., and 

 off the coast to the 51st meridian. Apparently none of the heavier 

 pack from the north was south of the 52d parallel at that time. 

 On 11 February the forming of new ice in the Newfoundland area 

 apparently reached its greatest extent for the season. Patches 

 of slush distant from the main ice area were reported that date at 

 positions of 44°40' N., 53°45' W., and 48°57' N., 44°18' W. These 

 are shown as isolated patches on the February chart. Absence 

 of further reports of ice at those positions indicates that the ice 

 was short-lived. North of latitude 52° N., the eastern edge of the 

 ice on the 11th was about as shown for the limit of sea ice for 

 the month. East of Newfoundland the ice limits on the 23d cor- 

 responded closely to those shown on the chart. On the 25th some 

 broken pans of hard clear young ice to over 5 feet in diameter and 

 1 foot thick had reached the vicinity of St. John's near 47°35' N. 

 The next day onshore winds and swell rafted this ice across the 

 entrance to St. John's harbor closing that port to navigation. 

 St. John's Bay acted as a funnel and the ice barrier piled up to 

 an estimated thickness of 20 feet during the iiext few days. Prac- 



48 



