January 2005 



Much coldcr-than-normal air 

 temperatures prevailed in southern 

 Labrador during the entire month (Figure 

 15); the monthly average in Goose Bay, 

 for example, was approximately 3.3°C 

 below normal. Consequently, sea ice 

 grew vigorously along the southern 

 Labrador coast early in the month. On 10 

 January, Canadian Coast Guard vessels 

 and satellite reconnaissance confirmed 

 extensive ice development in the Strait of 

 Belle Isle, which prompted the Canadian 

 Coast Guard to recommend that, effective 

 13 January, the strait not be used by 

 transatlantic shipping. 



By mid month, the southward 



GOCSE BAY, CANADA 



«jw tijAH ■.-►• :m.a-j _'*jwi 



Daily Temperature Departures 



LAN SJWI I MAN 16JAN 2IJVJ 2SJVI 



2005 



Dmhf Maximum (red) and Minimum (blue) Temperatures 



i.i»ii t'.wi njiii 1&I..N :'i vi jfriMi 



2001 



-5 

 -to 



-13 

 ■-20 



-23 



- -30 



-35 



Doto upja^t 'hrauqh 10 JAN 2005 



CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER/NCEP 



Figure 15. January 2005 air-tempcraturc record for Goose 

 Bay (NOAA/NWS, 2005) 



progress of the ice edge, which had moved 

 south of St. Anthony, was still about a week 

 later than normal. However, the eastward 

 extent of the sea ice along the southern 

 Labrador coast was approaching normal 

 conditions. At Cartwright, the ice edge 

 extended seaward approximately 100 nm. 



During the second half of January, 

 the southward advance of the ice edge 

 continued at a rapid pace, but the eastward 

 expansion slowed significantly. By month's 

 end, the southern ice edge reached Cape 

 Bonavista. The arrival of the southern ice 

 edge at Cape Bonavista was slightly ahead 

 of normal but well ahead of the CIS 

 preseason sea-ice forecast. On the other 

 hand, the eastward extent of the ice edge on 

 the northeast-Newfoundland shelf was well 

 below normal. At St. Anthony, the eastern 

 ice edge was approximately 70 nm offshore, 

 while in a normal year it would be over 140 

 nm. 



On 27 January 2005, Ice Patrol 

 deployed its preseason Ice Reconnaissance 

 Detachment (IRD) to St. John's, 

 Newfoundland. The intent of the IRD was 

 to monitor the progress of icebergs toward 

 the Grand Banks and help determine the 

 start date for the 2005 season. 



No icebergs passed south of 48°N in 

 January; the average for the month is three. 



February 



Much warmcr-than-normal 



conditions persisted in southern Labrador 

 and Newfoundland throughout February. 

 The daily average air temperature in Goose 

 Bay was 4.1°C warmer than normal; in St. 

 John's, it was 1.7°C above normal. Despite 

 the warmcr-than-normal conditions, the 

 southern ice edge pushed steadily 

 southward over the first half of the month, 

 approaching to within 20 nm of St. John's, 

 Newfoundland, by mid month. However, 

 the eastward sea-ice edge continued to be 

 much closer to shore than normal. At mid 

 month, it was 100 nm east of St. Anthony, 



15 



