Ice Conditions 

 1984 Season 



October - November 1983: 



Temperatures were near normal 

 and no sea ice formed south of 

 58°N during October and 

 November (Figures 1 and 11). 

 By \he end of November, Hudson 

 Strait and the mouth of Ungava 

 Bay were closed by sea ice with 

 the southern part of Ungava Bay 

 remaining ice-free. Iceberg 

 sightings south of 52°N reported 

 to International Ice Patrol during 

 October were nearthe entrance 

 to the Straits of Belle Isle and no 

 sightings were reported south of 

 52°N during November. 



December 1 983: Early in the 

 month, sea ice along the coast of 

 Labrador was as far south as Lake 

 Melville. By mid-month (Figure 

 1 2), sea ice was approaching, and 

 by the end of the month had 

 closed the Straits of Belle Isle. 

 Seven icebergs were reported to 

 International Ice Patrol south of 

 520N during December, all in the 

 vicinity of the Straits of Belle Isle. 



January 1984: By mid-month 

 (Figure 13), ice along the coast 

 was south of Cape Bonavista. 

 The Iceland Low was deeper than 

 normal during January, and the 

 distribution of pressure funnelled 

 in cold continental air (Figure 1), 

 causing air temperatures to be 

 well below nonnal (Table 5). No 

 new iceberg sightings were 

 reported to International Ice Patrol 

 south of 52°N during January. 



February 1984: Sea ice was 



as far south as Cape St. Francis 

 throughout the month with a 

 seaward penetration late in the 



month over the Grand Banks 

 nearly reaching 46°N (Figure 1 4). 

 the Iceland Low was again deeper 

 than normal, but pressure 

 patterns allowed warmer marine 

 air to flow over the Maritimes 

 (Figure 2), raising temperatures 

 above normal. The first pre- 

 season International Ice Patrol 

 deployment took place 31 

 January - 3 February. 

 Reconnaisance flights sighted 50 

 icebergs south of 520N, one of 

 which was south of 49°N. The 

 International Ice Patrol received 

 only one ship sighting south of 

 520N during February. 



March 1984: Sea ice remained 

 near Cape St. Francis throughout 

 the month with heavy coverage 

 over the Grand Banks (Figure 15). 

 Average surface winds during the 

 month were almost opposite the 

 normal pattern (Figure 3), wrth the 

 easterly and northeasterly flow 

 holding the sea ice and icebergs 

 toward the Newfoundland and 

 Labrador coasts. The second pre- 

 season deployment, 7-13 March, 

 resulted in 54 sightings south of 

 52°N, 18 of which were south of 

 48°N. A second deployment was 

 made 21-30 March with the 1984 

 Ice Patrol season officially 

 opening on 23 March. Figure 22 

 shows the limits of all known ice 

 south of 48°N. At the end of the 

 month, 1 56 icebergs were on plot 

 at the International Ice Patrol 

 office in Groton, Connecticut. 



April 1984: Sea ice continued 

 to persist along the coast as far 

 south as Cape St. Francis 

 throughout the month (Figure 



1 6). The unusual high pressure 

 system over Labrador in April 

 (Figure 4), coupled with low 

 pressure over Iceland, brought 

 northerly flow into the Maritimes 

 and lower than normal 

 temperatures prevailed (Table 5). 

 Under the influence of northerly 

 winds and retreat of the sea ice 

 westward, April was the heaviest 

 iceberg nrxjnth with 1043 

 icebergs sighted, of which 953 

 passed south of 48° N. The first 

 IC ER EC DET deployment for the 

 nrKDnth was extremely busy, 

 reporting large numtjers of 

 icebergs daily while participating 

 in both an airborne radar iceberg 

 detection experiment and ice 

 patrols over a two week period. 

 On 1 5 April 1 984, a memorial 

 wreath was dropped at the site of 

 the HMS TITANIC sinking 

 (41 01 6'N 51 OW) to commemorate 

 the neariy 1 500 lives lost on 1 5 

 April 1912. At the end of the 

 month, 1 56 icebergs were on plot 

 at the Intemational Ice Patrol. 



May 1984: Sea ice in Davis 

 Strait retreated to the west under 

 the warm air temperatures of May, 

 and at the same time receded 

 northward along the the east 

 coast of Greenland (Figure 1 7). In 

 contrast, near normal weather 

 conditions resulted in a light 

 westeriy flow over the 

 Newfoundland and Labrador 

 coasts that did little to affect sea 

 ice, which remained as far south 

 as Cape St. Francis throughout 

 the month. InMay, 1037 

 icebergs were sighted, of which 

 484 passed south of 48°N. At 

 the end of the month, 1 98 



17 



