north-south direction. Put another way, the 

 February sea ice extent went from well 

 below normal at the start of the month to 

 normal conditions by month's end. 



No icebergs passed south of 48°N 

 during February; the average for the month 

 is 15. 



March 



Colder to much colder-than-normal 

 conditions in Newfoundland and Labrador 



The passage of two potent low 

 pressure systems during the 27-30 March 

 period brought strong offshore winds that 

 pushed the sea ice eastward creating a 

 wide shore lead. Throughout this period, 

 the ice stream in the Labrador Current 

 continued to extend further south, and by 

 month's end its southern extent was at 

 44°40'N. 



Five reconnaissance flights, three 

 by IIP in late February and two by CIS in 

 early March, found a small iceberg 



persisted during the first three weeks of population between 48°N and 56°N, mostly 



March, resulting in unabated sea ice located within the sea ice edge (Figure 19). 



expansion during the period. The sea-ice 



extent was near normal on 12 



March, with the southern 

 extent immediately to the 

 south of St. John's, and the 

 eastern edge near the 

 northern entrance to Flemish 

 Pass. As predicted by the 

 Canadian Ice Service (2002), 

 the sea ice attained its 

 greatest areal extent for 2003 

 by the end of the third week of 

 March. On 19 March, the 

 eastern extent was in the 

 offshore branch of the 

 Labrador Current well into 

 Flemish Pass, while the 

 southernmost extent was 60 



NM south of Cape Race. In 

 both cases, the ice edge 

 position was far beyond 

 normal and the pre-season 

 prediction. Figure 18 is a 

 natural color image from 

 MODIS, an instrument flown 

 on NASA's Terra satellite, 

 taken on 20 March 2003. In 

 the last week of March, the 

 sea ice began to retreat with 

 the exception of a narrow 

 stream of ice in the cold water 

 of the offshore branch of the 

 Labrador Current. 



Figure 18. MODIS image from 20 March 2003 at 1455Z showing 

 the ice edge at its maximum extent for 2003. Image courtesy of 

 MODIS Rapid Response Project at NASA/GSFC. 



18 



