and iceberg observations to the historical 

 record emphasizes the departures from 

 normal and gives a greater appreciation for 

 the variability of the ice distribution in the 

 western North Atlantic. For sea ice, Sea 

 Ice Climatic Atlas, East Coast of Canada, 

 1971-2000 (Canadian Ice Service, 2001) 

 provides a 30 year median of ice 

 concentration at seven day intervals for the 

 period from November 26 through July 16. 

 Viekman and Baumer (1995) present an 

 iceberg limits climatology from mid-March 

 to July 30 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 for the period. Finally, the average 

 number of icebergs estimated to have 

 drifted south of 48°N for each month was 

 calculated using 102 years (1900 through 

 2001) of IIP records. 



The pre-season sea ice forecast 

 (Canadian Ice Service, 2001), which was 

 issued in early December, predicted: 



• one week later than normal 

 freeze-up along the Labrador 

 coast and in east 

 Newfoundland waters due to 

 slightly above normal air and 

 sea surface temperatures in 

 the region, 



• movement of the ice edge into 

 the Strait of Belle Isle during 

 the first week of January 

 2002, 



• sea ice reaching Cape 

 Bonavista during the second 

 week of February, 



• maximum extent of the sea ice 

 attained in mid-March, with 

 the ice edge approximately at 

 the latitude of St. John's for 

 the entire month, and 



• normal retreat of the southern 

 ice edge in the spring. 



A series of six CIS reconnaissance 

 flights conducted in mid-October 

 documented a population of 825 icebergs 

 from 61 °N to 66'N, with the highest 

 concentration north of 62°N (Desjardins, 

 2001 ). Although most of the icebergs were 

 near the Baffin Island coast, more than 100 

 were offshore. Desjardins (2001) predicted 

 that the first of these would reach 48°N 

 during the month of February 2002. 



December 2001 



In Labrador, sea ice began forming 

 in the bays and near coastal areas in early 

 December, which is near normal. 

 However, the southern edge of the main 

 ice pack didn't arrive on the northern 

 Labrador coast until mid-month, about two 

 weeks later than normal. Warmer than 

 normal air temperatures in southern 

 Labrador throughout December delayed 

 freeze-up along the southern coast and in 

 the Strait of Belle Isle by one to two weeks. 

 In Newfoundland, air temperatures were 

 near normal during the first half of the 

 month, but increased to five to ten degrees 

 above normal during the second half. 

 Mean December sea surface temperatures 

 were near normal off the southern 

 Labrador coast and on the northeast 

 Newfoundland shelf. At month's end the 

 Strait of Belle Isle was free of sea ice. No 

 icebergs passed south of 48°N during 

 December. 



January 2002 



Warm conditions continued in 

 southern Labrador and Newfoundland in 

 the first half of January. The southern ice 

 edge continued to expand slowly, and 

 shortly after mid-month reached St. 

 Anthony, about two weeks later than 

 normal. Throughout the region, air 

 temperatures turned dramatically colder 

 during the second half of the month, 



17 



