Center (National Oecanic and 

 Atmospheric Administration 



[NOAA]/National Weather Service 

 [NWS], 2006); and summaries of the 

 iceberg data collected by Ice Patrol and 

 CIS. Because Ice Patrol did not create 

 daily ice limits in 2005, CIS's iceberg 

 analyses arc used to document the extent 

 of the iceberg population from 15 

 February to 1 July 2005 (pages 30-39). 



The progress of the 2004-2005 ice 

 year is compared to sea-ice and iceberg 

 observations from the historical record. 

 The sea-ice historical data arc derived 

 from the Sea Ice Climatic Atlas. East 

 Coast of Canada, 1971-2000 (Canadian 

 Ice Service, 2001), which provides a 30- 

 year median of ice concentration at 

 seven-day intervals for the period from 

 26 November to 16 July. The average 

 number of icebergs estimated to have 

 drifted south of 48°N for each month was 

 calculated using 105 years (1900-2004) 

 of Ice Patrol records (International Ice 

 Patrol, 2006). 



The preseason sea-ice forecast 

 (Canadian Ice Service, 2004), which was 

 issued on 3 December, predicted that 



• the southern ice edge would move 

 into the vicinity of the Strait of Belle 

 Isle (Figure 14) by mid January 

 2005, which is two to three weeks 

 later than normal, 



• sea ice could reach as far south as 

 Cape Bonavista during March, but 

 that most of it would remain north of 

 Notre Dame Bay, and 



• sea ice would begin to retreat by late 

 March. 



During the first half of October 2004, 

 CIS conducted a census of the iceberg 

 population in Davis Strait by combining 

 two visual-reconnaissance flights (10, 12 

 October) with several RADARSAT (a 

 Canadian Earth-observation satellite) 

 images over the period from 2 to 8 



October (Desjardins, 2004). The resulting 

 iceberg count was 451, approximately 10 of 

 which were in the southward-moving 

 offshore waters. This was the smallest 

 number of offshore icebergs seen during the 

 five years (2000-2004) in which surveys 

 were conducted. Offshore icebergs arc often 

 the first to arrive at 48°N and are therefore 

 the vanguard of the iceberg season. 

 Desjardins (2004) concluded that since there 

 were fewer icebergs in 2004 than in the four 

 previous survey years — particularly in the 

 offshore area — there would be a late 

 opening to the 2005 iceberg season (defined 

 as the date that IIP starts issuing daily 

 warnings to mariners). 



November and December 2004 



Northern Labrador experienced 

 warmer-than-normal conditions during 

 November. For example, the mean daily air 

 temperature at Nain, Labrador, was 1.7°C 

 above normal (Environment Canada, 2006), 

 and the sea-surface temperature along most 

 of the Labrador coast was approximately 

 0.5°C above normal (NOAA/NWS, 2006). 

 As a result, the southern edge of the main 

 ice pack reached Cape Chidlcy — the 

 northernmost point in Labrador — in mid 

 December, about two weeks later than 

 normal. 



The December air temperatures in 

 Labrador were near or slightly below 

 normal, and the sea-surface temperature 

 along the coast returned to normal. The 

 southern ice edge moved persistently 

 southward during December, arriving in the 

 northeastern reaches of the Strait of Belle 

 Isle at month's end, about a week later than 

 normal but ahead of the preseason sea-ice 

 forecast (Canadian Ice Service, 2004). The 

 eastward ice extent along the southern 

 Labrador coast was near normal. No 

 icebergs passed south of 48°N during 

 November or December. 



14 



