in mid January, while in a normal year it 

 extends seaward over 100 nm. 



In January, several powerful low- 

 pressure systems brought strong onshore winds 

 to the Labrador coast. By far, the most 

 significant storm occurred from 15 to 21 

 January, when a storm explosively intensified 

 near Newfoundland. By the 16*, the central 

 pressure deepened to 948 hPa (Figure 19) 

 while the storm was over northern 

 Newfoundland (Bancroft, 2004). It brought 

 gale-force onshore winds to the Labrador coast 



•C 



5 



-10 



-25 



GOOSE BAY, CANADA 



Daily Average and Normal Temperature 



K^M' 



■5 



-20 

 -25 



2D04 



1&WN 21JAN 2gJAN 



Daily Temperoture Departures 



26JW 



Daily Maximum (red) and Minfmum (blue) Temperatures 

 St fS 



Figure 18. January 2004 air-temperature record for Goose Bay. 



(Figure 20). Strong onshore winds persisted 

 until the storm moved out on 22 January. 

 Another intense low-pressure system struck the 

 region later in the month (26-29 January), 

 following a similar track (Bancroft, 2004). 

 Again, vigorous and persistent onshore winds 

 battered the Labrador coast for several days. 

 The impact of the two major storm systems on 

 sea-ice growth was twofold. First, the onshore 

 winds brought relatively warm maritime air 

 into the region, as seen by the strong positive 

 temperature anomalies (Figure 18) for the two 

 storm periods, thus creating 

 unfavorable ice-growth 



conditions. Second, the onshore 

 winds caused widespread ice 

 destruction and compressed what 

 ice remained along the coast. In 

 addition, it is likely that any 

 icebergs in the vicinity were also 

 driven toward shore, out of the 

 core of the Labrador Current. 



The combination of much 

 warmer-than-normal air 



temperatures and strong onshore 

 winds led to sea-ice conditions at 

 the end of January that were far 

 less than normal. In a normal 

 year, the southern sea ice edge 

 reaches Cape Freels by the end of 

 January (Figure 21). In 2004, the 

 southern-ice edge (Figure 22) 

 was barely into the Strait of Belle 

 Isle. 



Ice Patrol deployed its 

 pre-season Ice Reconnaissance 

 Detachment to Newfoundland on 

 27 January 2004. The intent of 

 the IRD was to monitor the 

 progress of the icebergs toward 

 the Grand Banks and help 

 determine the start date for the 

 2004 season. 



During January, no 

 icebergs passed south of 48°N; 

 the average for the month was 

 three. 



-30 



1FEB 



15 



