southwest regardless of wind direction. This favors the hypothesis 

 that these bergs drifted from the Greenland side. Such was also 

 the conclusion of the 1952 analysis (see p. 48, Bulletin No. 38, 

 1952). Under the influence of prevailing northeasterly winds for 

 an extended period, such an event is not improbable. 



March 



Conditions during the early part of March remained the same 

 as in January and February, but on 14 March, aerial observation 

 showed the Arctic pack beginning to encroach upon the Strait 

 of Belle Isle and its eastern approaches. The Belle Isle Radio on this 

 date also reported the arrival of the pack with many bergs inside 

 the ice edge. Prevailing northeast winds during February and 

 March had kept the field ice and bergs close along the coast and 

 is a suggested reason for their late appearance. 



The pack ice and its vanguard of bergs quickly filled up the 

 Strait of Belle Isle and moved down the Newfoundland Coast. 

 The consolidated pack and the bergs remained, on the whole, 

 west of longitude 54° W. By the end of the month the northeast 

 coast of Newfoundland was icebound but since no bergs or sea 

 ice moved eastward into the axis of the Labrador Current, the 

 southeast coast of Newfoundland and the Grand Banks enjoyed 

 a near record ice-free month. Ice conditions during March are 

 shown by figs. 1-3. 





CLOSE PACK ICE 

 OPEN PACK ICE 



A ICEBERG 



Q GROWLER 



Figure 1. — Ice conditions on 14 March 1958. 



8 



