6CrW 5S(°W 56\V 54*W 52W SfVt AS'VI -te^U 44\lf 42*W 40*W 



Lx)ngitude 



Figure 16. Mean sea surface temperature anomaly for March 2001 (from IRI/LDEO 

 Climate Data Library and blended from ship, buoy, and bias-corrected satellite data). 



to abnormal SST conditions. The large 

 positive SST anomaly shown in the figure 

 is well to the south of the sea ice edge and 

 the March iceberg population. 



On 29 March, Ice Patrol formally 

 opened the 2001 ice season. On this day, 

 the distribution of icebergs for the southern 

 extent and easterly extent were near the 

 75'^ percentile according to Viekman and 

 Baumer's iceberg climatology classification 

 (Viekman and Baumer, 1995). This means 

 that for the 21 years of the study, 75% of 

 the iceberg limits were more extensive 

 than those in 2001. During March, an 

 estimated 31 icebergs drifted south of 

 48°N, about half the 101 -year average of 

 61 for the month. 



April 



April was a month of change. 

 During the first half of the month, stormy 



conditions prevailed in southern 

 Newfoundland, continuing the weather 

 pattern that had persisted since December. 

 Again, storms moving along the Atlantic 

 storm track south of the Avalon Peninsula 

 brought strong northeast winds to east 

 Newfoundland waters and along the 

 southern Labrador coast. Mean air 

 temperatures in both Newfoundland and 

 Labrador were 1°C to 2°C colder than 

 normal. The storms abated in the second 

 half of the month, and Newfoundland 

 experienced a mean southwesterly flow 

 and slightly less than normal air 

 temperatures. 



The persistent onshore winds of 

 early April continued to hold the sea ice 

 close to the coast and tightly packed in the 

 bays along the northern and eastern 

 Newfoundland coasts. This resulted in an 

 eastern sea ice edge that was significantly 

 less than normal. The southern ice edge. 



