Jökull - 01.12.1969, Qupperneq 81

Report on Sea Ice off the Icelandic Coasts
October 1967 to September 1968
FLOSI HRAFN SIGURÐSSON,
THE ICELANDIC METEOROLOGICAL OFFICE, REYKJAVÍK, ICELAND
More drift ice was observed in Icelandic
waters than in any year since 1888. Some ice
was reported near the coasts approx. 180 days
and almost continuously from March 3rd to
July 25th. The ice frequently impeded or clos-
ed navigation and at times it was completely
blocking the northern and eastern coasts of the
country.
The number of ice messages received by the
Icelandic Meteorological Office greatly exceed-
ed that in all previous years. Messages front
ships and meteorological stations cover 232
pages in the ice journals of the office. Ot
these 36 pages were for March, 65 pages for
April and 81 pages for May. For comparison
can be mentioned that ice reports from the
year 1966—’67 cover 41 pages, frorn 1965—’66
12 pages and from the year 1964—'65 which
also was a severe ice year, 36 pages.
The year was considerably colder than nor-
mal, deviations of yearly means ranging from
— 0.8° C in the extreme south and southwest
to — 2.3° C in the extreme north. The first
nine months from October to June were colder
than normal on practically all stations, and on
a few stations on the northern promontories
and on the east coast even all months of the
year were below average. On most stations
however July and September were above
normal.
Sea temperatures were also mostly lower than
average with deviations of yearly means rang-
ing from —0.4° C at Stykkishólmur to — 1.6°
C at Raufarhöfn and —2.3° C at Teigarhorn.
Below are quoted monthly means of air
temperature and deviations from normals at
Hornbjargsviti, Stykkishólmur and Raufarhöfn.
Hornbjargsviti 66°25' N, 22°23' W, 26 m above M.S.L.
Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. March Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Year
Means 1967—’68 . 1.6 -0.1 -2.3 -4.6 -3.6 -6.0 - - 1.6 i.i 4.0 9.0 8.0 5.9 0.9
Deviations -2.1 -2.0 -2.5 -3.8 -2.5 -5.6 - -2.0 -2.8 -2.6 0.8 -0.2 -0.7 -2.2
Stykkishólmur 65°05' N, 22°44' W, 17 m above M.S.L.
Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. March Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Year
Means 1967-’68 . 2.4 -0.0 - 1.4 -2.7 -2.7 -2.5 0.7 4.1 7.0 10.9 9.6 8.5 2.8
Deviations -2.1 CnÍ 1 °0 1 o> 1 co 1 CM cd 1 - 1.1 - - 1.6 -1.7 0.5 -0.4 0.6 - 1.4
Raufarhöfn 66°27' N, 15°57' W, 5 m above M.S.L.
Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. March Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Year
Means 1967-’68 . 1.4 -0.9 -2.8 -4.3 -4.7 -6.1 -2.8 0.1 4.8 8.3 8.5 5.8 0.6
Deviations ....... - 1.9 - 2.0 - 2.3 - 2.9 - 2.8 - 5.2 - 3.1 - 3.9 - 2.1 - 0.6 - 0.3 - 1.0 - 2.3
JÖKULL. 19. AR 77