March 



At the begining of March, new ice had spread southward 

 to near 47°30'N 47°W and in the coastal area to near Cape 

 Race. Iceberg drift continued to be southerly and easterly 

 until the easternmost iceberg of the season reached 46°52'N 

 37°59'W before melting on 6 March. The ice conditions at 

 this time are shown in figure 7. Ice observation flights on 

 7, 8 and 11 March located a total of 36 bergs, 12 growlers 

 and 5 radar targets as shown in figures 8 and 9. With ice- 

 bergs already south of the Tail of the Banks, a Surface 

 Patrol was started on 10 March. The iceberg conditions on 

 11 March as shown in figure 10 had the southernmost iceberg 

 for the month in position 41°23'N 48°31'W. By mid-March 

 the pack ice extended from Cape Freels to near 45°30'N 

 46°30'W to 47°40'N 45 "W and then northwestward. During the 

 second half of March, mean northerly winds east of Newfound- 

 land caused the sea ice to drift southward and carried it 

 past St. John's, blocking access to this harbor for much of 

 the period. A tongue of ice drifted around the eastern edge 

 of the Grand Banks and by the end of March extended south to 

 near 44°50'N. Ice observation flights on 24, 28 and 29 March, 

 as shown in figure 11, located a total 234 icebergs. A flight 

 on 31 March north of the Strait of Belle Isle to Hamilton 

 Inlet located an additional 74 bergs. These indicated a 

 potential of over 300 icebergs to intrude upon the Grand 

 Banks during the next six to eight weeks. During the month 

 of March, an estimated 134 icebergs drifted south of 48°N. 



April 



During early April concentrations of sea ice below 48°N 

 showed some signs of deterioration; however, the southern 

 tongue of open pack ice extended as far south as 43°30'N on 

 3 April as shown in figure 12. By mid-April the central 

 pack (6 oktas or more) had moved southward to 45 "N, with 

 little change to the extent of the tongue of sea ice. Ice 

 observation flights on 17 and 18 April (figure 13) revealed 

 iceberg concentrations on the northeast corner of the Grand 

 Banks along the eastern slope, a distribution ideal for 

 maximum southward iceberg movement. Before the end of the 

 month, a strong northerly wind had packed ice onto the coast 

 from the Avalon Peninsula to Belle Isle. North of latitude 

 49°N, the ice edge retreated westward, but over the 

 northern Grand Banks area the sea ice extended eastward to 

 near 48°W, some 150 miles beyond its average limit. These 

 conditions brought the southernmost iceberg of the month 

 to 40°40'N 49°04'W by the end of April These sea ice 

 and iceberg conditions are shown on figure 14. During 

 April an estimated 212 icebergs drifted south of 48°N. 



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