February 



Much warmer- 

 than-normal conditions 

 persisted in Labrador and 

 northern Newfoundland 

 throughout February, 

 substantially slowing the 

 advance of the ice edge. 

 By mid month, sea ice 

 clogged the Strait of 

 Belle Isle, prompting the 

 Canadian Coast Guard to 

 advise mariners against 

 using it for transatlantic 

 voyages, effective 



February 13, 2004. Due 

 to the extraordinarily 

 light sea-ice conditions in 

 2004, this warning was 

 issued about 6 weeks 

 later than normal. 



The second half 

 of February witnessed a slow but persistent 

 southward sea-ice growth, with the southern 

 edge extending into White Bay by month's end. 

 The eastern ice edge was much closer to shore 

 than normal. For example, at St. Anthony the 



QUIKSCAT Nfn Wnds 0401 16 



Figure 20. Surface winds for 16 January 2004 at 2309 UTC. 



Figure 19. Sea-level pressure for OOZ 17 January 2004 (Met, Office, Bracknell). 



eastern ice edge was about 60 nm off shore 

 versus the normal distance of about 200 nm. 



An early February series of aerial 

 reconnaissance patrols, two by Ice Patrol's pre- 

 season IRD and one by the CIS airplane, found 

 a sparse iceberg population near Newfoundland 

 and Labrador. On 2 and 3 February, the 

 nP airplane conducted two 

 reconnaissance flights, one over the sea- 

 ice-free waters of the offshore branch of 

 the Labrador Current between 48°N and 

 52°N and the other a survey flight 

 northward along the sea-ice edge off the 

 Labrador coast from 55°N to 59°N. On 

 3 February, the Canadian Ice Service's 

 reconnaissance airplane conducted 

 iceberg reconnaissance in the Strait of 

 Belle Isle and along the Labrador coast 

 from 52°N to 55°N. The coordinated 

 IIP and CIS patrols detected 16 

 icebergs, all north of 55°N. The resuUs 

 of these early February flights 

 suggested that the prediction of a late 

 start to the iceberg season (Desjardins, 

 2003) was correct. The unusually warm 



16 



