sea ice cover along the eastern Canadian 

 seaboard at weekly intervals from mid- 

 November through the end of July. The 

 maps are based on a 25-year record 

 beginning in 1962. Viekman and Baumer 

 (1995) present an iceberg limit climatology 

 from mid-March to 30 July based on 21 

 years of Ice Patrol observations from 1975 

 through 1995. They provide the extreme, 

 median, and minimum extent of the limit of 

 all known ice (LAKI) for the period. Finally, 

 the average number of icebergs estimated 

 to have drifted south of 48°N for each 

 month was calculated using 100 years 

 (1900 through 1999) of IIP records. 



December 1998 through February 1999 



Along the Labrador Coast and in 

 east Newfoundland waters, the winter 

 started out normally. In December and 

 January, northwest and north winds 

 dominated both areas; air temperatures, 

 though variable along the Labrador Coast, 

 were near normal elsewhere. In December, 

 the SSTs were 2°C to 3°C colder than 

 normal near Newfoundland and Labrador, 

 but by February the ocean's surface had 

 warmed to within a degree of normal. The 

 extent of sea ice was normal in both areas 

 for December and January. 



By February, there were early 

 indications of great changes to come. 

 While northwesterly winds continued to 

 dominate the Labrador Coast, east 

 Newfoundland waters experienced 

 southwesterlies in the beginning of the 

 month and northeasterlies during the latter 

 half of the month. In both areas, air 

 temperatures were 2°C to 5°C warmer than 

 normal for the entire month. Ice conditions 

 in February were normal along the 

 Labrador Coast and, although sea ice was 

 seven to ten days late in developing in east 

 Newfoundland waters, by month's end ice 

 thickness and extent were normal. A late 

 January IIP pre-season reconnaissance 



flight along the sea ice edge off the 

 Labrador coast observed 26 icebergs near 

 the ice edge between 52°N and 59°N. 

 Adverse weather conditions prevented a 

 survey of the iceberg population within the 

 sea ice off the southern Labrador coast. 



March 



In March it became clear that 1999 

 would be an unusual ice year, maybe even 

 an historic one. Both Labrador and east 

 Newfoundland were dominated by 

 moderate southwest winds and 4°C to 6°C 

 warmer than normal air temperatures. In 

 both areas, the thickness and areal extent 

 of sea ice were much less than normal. 

 Early in the month the sea ice reached its 

 farthest southward extent of the year, 

 barely reaching the area of Cape 

 Bonavista, with an easterly extent that was 

 much less than normal. Late in the month 

 the sea ice started a rapid retreat, and at 

 month's end it was restricted to the bight of 

 Newfoundland. The SST on the northeast 

 Newfoundland continental shelf remained 

 within a degree of normal, but south of 

 45°N the ocean surface was ^°C to 2°C 

 warmer than normal. 



The first ice reconnaissance 

 detachment deployed to St. John's from 4 

 to 11 March; four patrols documented a 

 sparse iceberg population south of 52°N. 

 By the end of March, however, there were 

 reports of large numbers of icebergs in the 

 sea ice east of the Strait of Belle Isle and 

 along the southern Labrador coast. There 

 were very few icebergs outside the sea ice, 

 and those few were not far from the ice 

 edge. During the month, one iceberg was 

 estimated to have drifted south of 48°N. In 

 an average season, 58 icebergs pass 

 south of 48°N during March. 



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