March 



Labrador remained 

 much warmer than normal 

 throughout March, while 

 Newfoundland reverted to 

 near-normal conditions. 



Approximately in 

 keeping with the CIS 

 preseason sea-ice forecast, 

 sea ice reached its 2005 

 maximum extent during the 

 first week of March, at 

 which time the southern ice 

 edge was approximately at 

 the latitude of Cape 

 Bonavista and the eastern 

 edge was 120 nm offshore. 

 In a normal year, the 

 southern ice edge is over 70 

 nm farther south of this 

 latitude and the eastern edge 

 more than 80 nm farther 

 offshore (Figures 16 and 

 17). 



The southern ice 

 edge remained in the 

 vicinity of Cape Bonavista 

 for the first half of the 

 month, after which the sea 

 ice began to retreat. 

 Although sea-ice retreat 

 commenced according to 

 preseason predictions, its 

 pace was faster than expected. It was 

 fueled, in part, by an extraordinarily 

 powerful and long-lasting North Atlantic 

 storm that explosively intensified off 

 Newfoundland on 12 March and then 

 stalled. By 15 March, the low, centered at 

 48°N and 41°W, had deepened to 957 

 mbar (Figure 18), bringing storm-force 

 northeast winds to east-Newfoundland 

 waters (Figure 19). This complex system 

 lingered in the area until 21 March, 

 causing immense ice destruction and 

 compressing the surviving ice along the 

 coasts of northern Newfoundland and 



ICE ANALYSIS 

 ANALYSE OE GLACE 

 NE Newfoundland W j'-j. i 

 Eauxdn Terr b-Nmjva New d-Eftt 

 V18O07 



05 MAR/MAR 2005 



BASED 0N/BA5EE SUR: 

 HfcCON; 



ObM*R'MAn?0O6 



WMO Colour CoOe 



Concentration 



□ 



Code Oe couleurs rje 1'OMW 



□ UK 

 Banqusc c Attars 



E~"| Undefined 

 ^J IndvUrmrio* 



Concentration 



I I Nbv. ic 



I I N.»iV.I. 



□ IM>I I 

 ■.,.. C l,,.r 



Figure 17. Sea-ice concentrations for 5 March 2005 (Courtesy of the 

 Canadian Ice Service) 



southern Labrador. By month's end, most of 

 the northeast-Newfoundland shelf was ice 

 free. 



The reduced sea-ice extent and 

 favorable-visibility conditions aided a series 

 of 10 iceberg-reconnaissance flights over the 

 period 24-29 March. Five aerial patrols by 

 IIP, four by PAL, and one by Transport 

 Canada searched the region between 45°30' 

 N and 56°30' N. The combined flights found 

 a very small population of icebergs, most 

 very close to coastal Newfoundland (Figure 

 20). It was clear that this iceberg population 

 posed no significant threat to transatlantic 



17 



