the area to be clear of floating ice. Only a few scattered bergs had 

 been observed in the area immediately northward of the banks and 

 it is estimated that only 15 bergs crossed the 48th parallel during 

 the month. For a plot of that ice reported in the area south of 

 latitude 49 during August refer to figure 40. 



September 



No ice of any kind was reported in the area south of 49° N., 

 during September or the subsequent months of 1945. Single bergs 

 were reported on the 12th and 15th at 49°46' N., 50° 10' W., and 

 49°20' N., 50° 14' W., respectively and an occasional berg was re- 

 ported along the coast of Labrador. On 22 September less than 

 a dozen bergs were sighted in the coastal waters between Cape 

 Chidley and Cape Harrison. 



SUMMARY 



The distribution of field ice over the Grand Banks area was that 

 of an average season. The mean temperatures in this area during 

 December 1944 and January 1945 were higher than during an 

 average year and little local ice was formed until February when 

 the mean temperature for the month was somewhat less than that 

 for the 3 years preceding. Thus the amount of local ice formed 

 was considerably less than that during an average year and was 

 responsible for the below average amount of ice observed in the 

 Gulf of St. Lawrence and the small amount and brief duration of 

 the local ice off the coast of Newfoundland. Except for a brief 

 period in March the approaches to St. John's were open and no field 

 ice drifted as far south along the coast as Cape Race. A narrow 

 tongue of ice extended to a southerly extreme along the eastern 

 edge of the Grand Banks in April, but it was of brief duration. 

 Although strict comparison between seasons is impossible, the ice 

 appeared to be lighter than during the two preceding seasons and 

 following its maximum extent, it receded and disintegrated more 

 rapidly than the ice during the 1944 season. The Strait of Belle 

 Isle and approaches were navigable by early June and shipping 

 could visit the Labrador ports northward past Cape Harrison be- 

 fore the end of that month. 



It is estimated that a total of 1,087 bergs drifted south of latitude 

 48° N., during the season. This is the greatest number reported 

 in that area since the 1929 season. Of this number, however, about 

 one-third were reported before the first of April and these were 

 mostly small bergs, few of which existed for any length of time 

 after drifting free of the limits of the ice field. The distribution 

 of the bergs from January through April was normal and the use 

 !ii? of track C would not have been hazardous at any time during the 

 normal period that it would have been effective ending on 10 April. 





95 



