of Hamilton Inlet and there was new ice 

 near Cape Chidley, Labrador's 

 northernmost point. By mid-December, 

 new ice was present along the Labrador 

 coast and had formed in the Strait of Belle 

 Isle. By late December, the sea ice extent 

 was slightly ahead of normal. 



January 2000 



There were two distinct sea ice 

 growth and weather regimes in January. 

 During the first half of the month, ice 

 growth proceeded at a faster than normal 

 pace both in Labrador and east 

 Newfoundland waters. This was due in 

 part to below normal air temperatures and 

 moderate northwesterly winds in Labrador. 

 The second half of January was a 

 particularly stormy period in the western 

 North Atlantic, and several of the storms 

 moved up through Labrador to the Davis 

 Strait area (Bancroft, 2000a). As a result, 

 moderate southwest winds and mean air 

 temperatures 3°C above normal dominated 

 the southern Labrador coast and east 

 Newfoundland waters. The elevated air 

 temperatures and ice destruction brought 

 about by the gales caused ice growth to 

 stagnate. By month's end, the sea ice 

 extent in east Newfoundland waters was 

 about a week behind normal, with a less 

 than normal ice thickness. 



During the last week of January, Ice 

 Patrol deployed its pre-season Ice 

 Reconnaissance Detachment. The intent 

 of the survey flight was to monitor the 

 progress of icebergs toward the Grand 

 Banks and to help determine the start date 

 for the season. An iceberg survey on 24 

 January flew near the edge of the sea ice 

 along the Labrador coast south of 57°30'N 

 and found 79 icebergs. On the same day, 

 a CIS reconnaissance flight found 21 

 icebergs within the sea ice along the 

 Labrador coast south of 54°N. Thus, 



based on this limited aerial ice 

 reconnaissance, the January population of 

 icebergs appeared sparse. No icebergs 

 passed south of 48°N during the month. 



February 



Newfoundland was dominated by 

 moderate westerlies due, in large part, to a 

 series of low pressure systems that passed 

 through the province. During the first half 

 on the month, air temperatures were about 

 2°C greater than normal in northern 

 Newfoundland and near normal elsewhere. 

 The mid-month ice extent and thickness 

 were slightly less than normal. During the 

 second half of the month, the mean air 

 temperature in all of Newfoundland was 1° 

 to 2°C above normal. Due to the prevailing 

 westerlies during February, the eastern 

 sea ice limit was slightly greater than 

 normal, while both the southern ice extent 

 and thickness were less than normal. 



Ice Patrol began routine aerial 

 reconnaissance for the 2000 ice season 

 with the deployment of IRD #1 on 10 

 February 2000. From 10 to 13 February, 

 IIP, CIS and Provincial Airlines conducted 

 extensive aerial surveys of the iceberg 

 population from 47°N to 60°N. Five flights, 

 including concurrent sorties by two IIP 

 aircraft, provided excellent spatial and 

 temporal coverage. The surveys, which 

 enjoyed good visibility, documented a 

 population of approximately 300 icebergs, 

 almost all within the sea ice (Figure 16). 

 Despite good visibility, it is likely that there 

 were more than the nearly 300 icebergs 

 counted, for finding small icebergs in areas 

 of heavily ridged sea ice is difficult, 

 particularly in low light conditions. 

 Although no icebergs passed south of 

 48°N during February, it was clear there 

 was a large population of icebergs not far 

 to the north, and the early part of the 2000 

 season would be active. 



16 



