Canadian Ice Service Seasonal Summary for the Canadian Arctic Summer 2009 Produced by the Canadian Ice Service November 06th, 2009 Seasonal Summary - Canadian Arctic Waters - Summer 2009 -1- Canadian Ice Service Table of Contents Hudson and Foxe .......................................................................................................... 4 June 2009.................................................................................................................... 4 July 2009 ..................................................................................................................... 5 August 2009 ................................................................................................................ 5 September 2009 .......................................................................................................... 6 Eastern and High Arctic.............................................................................................. 12 June 2009.................................................................................................................. 12 July 2009 ................................................................................................................... 13 August 2009 .............................................................................................................. 13 September 2009 ........................................................................................................ 14 Western and Central Arctic ........................................................................................ 21 June 2009.................................................................................................................. 21 July 2009 ................................................................................................................... 22 August 2009 .............................................................................................................. 23 September 2009 ........................................................................................................ 23 List of Tables Table 1: Temperatures and departures from normal (ºC) for Hudson Bay ...................... 7 Table 2: Temperatures and departures from normal (ºC) for Eastern Arctic ................. 16 Table 3: Temperatures and departures from normal (ºC) for Western Arctic ................ 25 List of Figures st th Figure 1: Temperature trend for Churchill from June 1 to September 30 .................... 7 st th Figure 2: Temperature trend for Iqaluit from June 1 to September 30 ......................... 7 th Figure 3: Hudson Bay Regional chart - June 15 ............................................................ 8 th Figure 4: Departure from normal ice concentration for Hudson Bay - June 15 .............. 8 th Figure 5: Hudson Bay Regional chart - July 13 ............................................................. 9 th Figure 6: Departure from normal ice concentration for Hudson Bay - July 13 ............... 9 th Figure 7: Hudson Bay Regional chart - August 10 ...................................................... 10 th Figure 8: Departure from normal ice concentration for Hudson Bay - August 10 ........ 10 th Figure 9: Hudson Bay Regional chart - September 14 ................................................ 11 th Figure 10: Departure from normal ice concentration for Hudson Bay - September 14 11 st th Figure 11: Temperature trend for Resolute from June 1 to September 30 ................ 16 st th Figure 12: Temperature trend for Clyde from June 1 to September 30 ..................... 16 th Figure 13: Eastern Arctic Regional chart - June 15 ..................................................... 17 th Figure 14: Departure from normal ice concentration for Eastern Arctic - June 15 ....... 17 th Figure 15: Eastern Arctic Regional chart - July 13 ...................................................... 18 th Figure 16: Departure from normal ice concentration for Eastern Arctic - July 13 ........ 18 th Figure 17: Eastern Arctic Regional chart - August 10 .................................................. 19 th Figure 18: Departure from normal ice concentration for Eastern Arctic - August 10 ... 19 th Figure 19: Eastern Arctic Regional chart - September 14 ........................................... 20 Seasonal Summary - Canadian Arctic Waters - Summer 2009 -2- Canadian Ice Service Figure 20: Departure from normal ice concentration for Eastern Arctic - September 14th ............................................................................................................................... 20 Figure 21: Temperature trend for Tuktoyaktuk from June 1st to September 30th ........... 25 Figure 22: Temperature trend for Cambridge Bay from June 1st to September 30th...... 25 Figure 23: Western Arctic Regional chart - June 15th .................................................... 26 Figure 24: Departure from normal ice concentration for Western Arctic - June 15th ...... 26 Figure 25: Western Arctic Regional chart - July 13th ..................................................... 27 Figure 26: Departure from normal ice concentration for Western Arctic - July 13th ....... 27 Figure 27: Western Arctic Regional chart - August 10th................................................. 28 Figure 28: Departure from normal ice concentration for Western Arctic - August 10th .. 28 Figure 29: Western Arctic Regional chart - September 14th .......................................... 29 Figure 30: Departure from normal ice concentration for Western Arctic - September 14th ............................................................................................................................... 29 Figure 31: 1000 mb pattern for June 1-15 and June 16-30 ........................................... 30 Figure 32: 1000 mb pattern for July 1-15 and July 16-31.............................................. 31 Figure 33: 1000 mb pattern for August 1-15 and August 16-31 .................................... 32 Figure 34: 1000 mb pattern for September 1-15 and September 16-30........................ 33 Seasonal Summary - Canadian Arctic Waters - Summer 2009 -3- Canadian Ice Service Hudson and Foxe Mean air temperatures during May were near normal values over northern locations except below normal over the coastal regions of Hudson Bay, southern Hudson Strait and the Labrador Coast. The only concrete evidence of this trend was along the Labrador Coast where the ice edge was slightly further east than normal. Otherwise, the breakup pattern by the end of May indicated near normal conditions over most areas. In spite of near normal temperatures, an earlier than normal breakup (by 2 to 3 weeks) was noticeable along the northwestern portion of Hudson Bay and the northern half of Hudson Strait. Even the northwestern part of Foxe Basin showed a large region of open water while the ice in the southern portion of the basin was abnormally mobile for the period. June 2009 Near normal temperatures were observed over most areas except for a warmer than normal region over northwest Hudson Bay. Churchill however, remained colder than normal through June as indicated in Table 1. Light to moderate easterly winds dominated along the east coast regions while light to moderate westerly winds dominated over Hudson Bay and Foxe Basin as indicated in Figure 31. Consequently, ice melted at a normal pace almost everywhere maintaining the earlier trend described in May. During the first half of June, the ice became increasingly mobile over northern Hudson Bay, through Hudson Strait and over the southern Foxe Basin region. Meanwhile the ice edge along the Davis Strait region lay slightly further offshore than usual and the ice along the Labrador Coast extended much further south than normal even though the ice had melted completely in Goose Bay by mid-June. Some of the old ice in Davis Strait invaded Hudson Strait as far west as Big Island. During the last half of the month, prevailing offshore winds along the east coast gradually pushed the ice away from the shore increasing the perception that ice lay further offshore than normal. Meanwhile, in Hudson Bay, cooler northerly winds dominated the region and kept the ice from melting normally, especially along the eastern shore of Hudson Bay where a delayed breakup by up to 2 weeks was seen. On the other hand, the ice in southern Foxe Basin was more mobile than normally and started to drift through Foxe Channel into Hudson Strait 2 to 3 weeks prematurely. Frobisher Bay was in a class by itself, at the onset of June, the ice had already started to clear and much of the bay was bergy water in the second week of June except for the western end which still had fast ice. However, subsequent onshore flow moved the ice back into the bay creating local areas of tougher ice conditions. Amongst this ice, one could find one to two tenths of old ice originating from the east coast of Baffin Island. At the end of June, the breakup was delayed by 2 to 3 weeks along the eastern shore of Hudson Bay and the ice lay further offshore and further south than normal along the Labrador Coast. However, the northern portion of Hudson Bay, southern Foxe Basin and western half of Hudson Strait all exhibited signs of an early breakup by 2 to 3 weeks. Seasonal Summary - Canadian Arctic Waters - Summer 2009 -4- Canadian Ice Service Ice conditions as well as departure from normal ice concentration for mid-June are shown in Figure 3 and Figure 4, respectively. July 2009 Mean temperatures were