of Transport. Lt. Comdr. W. E. Markham, RCNR, was the 

 Meteorological Officer-in-Charge of this program. 



The results of the ice observation flights were sent to the 

 Commander, International Ice Patrol and daily forecasts were 

 provided by the Ice Forecasting Central. This information proved 

 of immense value in providing Canadian bound ships with pertinent 

 information. 



Ice conditions were extremely favorable in the Gulf of St. 

 Lawrence during 1958. The main body of the gulf and Cabot 

 Strait remained ice free throughout the season. The ports of 

 Sydney, Port aux Basques, Cornerbrook and Stephenville and 

 many others remained open all year. By the early part of March 

 the river began to open and was navigable to Quebec City. On 

 30 March the German vessel SS Valeria became the first ship to 

 make the spring passage to Montreal. This is a record date for 

 this occasion. 



Northumberland Strait and the coasts of Prince Edward Island 

 and New Brunswick were hampered by ice until the middle of 

 April due to pressure from prevailing northeast winds. 



The northeast arm of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Strait 

 of Belle Isle became blocked with ice during March from the 

 Arctic pack. These ice conditions are shown in figs. 1-5. Due 

 to the onslaught of northeast winds in March and early April, 

 this region felt moderate to heavy pack ice reaching its greatest 

 extent when, on 1 April, it approximated a line from Cape Whittle, 

 Quebec, to Portland Cove, Newfoundland, roughly along the 50th 

 parallel. 



An unusual and most interesting iceberg drift occurred during 

 April when, on the 10th, a berg was reported south of Heath 

 Point, Anticosti Island. A Department of Transport survey 

 flight located this berg (or large growler) on 14 April and again 

 on 17 April to be 30 miles south of Heath Point and directly in 

 the main stream track. Capt. Angus Brown, Chief Ice Observer, 

 reported it to be of "hard blue ice" and of glacial origin. This 

 agrees with International Ice Patrol observations that bergs with 

 a bluish cast are particularly hard and long lived. Since other 

 bergs were reported aground near Cape Whittle, Quebec, and 

 Cornerbrook, Newfoundland, it is presumed that this extremely 

 rare event was a survivor from the many bergs driven into the 

 Strait of Belle Isle during March under the influence of the pre- 

 viously mentioned northeast winds. 



Unseasonable warming and southerly winds rapidly cleared the 

 field ice so that by 25 April the Strait of Belle Isle was free of 

 pack ice. However, the eastern approaches remained blocked. The 

 first transit of the strait by a major vessel was made by the 



