Jökull - 01.12.1986, Page 63

TABLE 1. Seasonal summary 1741 — 1750. This
table shows the main characteristics of the seasons in
the north, south, east and west of Iceland during 1741
to 1760. The terminology used is that of the contem-
porary observers. In the sea ice column an ‘X’ denotes
the presence of ice in the winter (W), spring (SP),
summer (SM) or autumn (A). For the sea ice column
°nly, “west” should be taken as meaning “northwest”
as sea ice rarely penetrates south of Látrabjarg in the
western fjords. The figures below give totals of mild,
cold and other seasons for this decade. The total
number of possible seasonal description as 160. Of
these, the total number of cold winters and springs is
26. There were 9 mild winters and springs, and 10
were partly cold and partly mild. There were 5 other
types of descriptions (“average”, “tolerable” etc), and
for 30 seasons there were no data (mainly in the east).
The total number of cold summers and autumns was
4- There were 7 mild summers and autumns. 14 of
these seasons were characterised as wet, and 3 as dry.
2 cold and wet summers and autumns occurred, and 2
cold and dry ones. 1 such season was mild and dry, 7
Were variable, 4 had other types of descriptions, and
for 36 seasons there were no data.
no attempt has, as yet, been made to calibrate the data
used here with modern data, there can be little doubt
from contemporary descriptions that the climate of
eighteenth-century Iceland was far colder than that of
the present century, for example. From Figure 3 it
ntay be seen that there is a broad agreement between
longterm cooling and warming trends in all regions.
Nevertheless, Figure 3 also shows considerable re-
gional variability, indicating that the greatest fre-
quency of severe seasons was experienced by the
north, and the least by the south. Another noticeable
feature of Figures 2 and 3 is the variability of the cli-
mate from one decade to the next. Annual and re-
gional variability is also considerable, as may be seen
from Tables 1 and 2. In the section which follows, the
mdividual decades are discussed in more detail.
1701-1710
In the winter-spring thermal index for the whole of
Iceland (Figure 2) and the regional index for the west
°f Iceland (Figure 3), the decade 1701 to 1710 shows
UP as the mildest in the period 1700 to 1780. It is also
°ne of the two mildest in the south and north (Figure
Fig. 3. Regional thermal indices for Iceland. From
Ogilvie (1981); see also Ogilvie (1984). — 3. mynd.
Mœlikvarði á hitastig veturs og vors á Suður-, Vestur-
og Norðurlandi.
1601 1651 1701 1751
-1610 -1660 -1710 -1760
Fig. 4. Decadal sea-ice index for Iceland. From
Ogilvie (1981); see also Ogilvie (1984). — 4. mynd.
Fjöldi árstíða á áratug, þegar hafís lá við strendur ís-
lands.
3). Although some individual winters and springs are
recorded as severe for this decade, many seasons were
mild or favourable, more so than in any other decade.
There was also a high proportion of dry and mild
summers. Autumns were also quite frequently charac-
terized as good.
Sea ice was present in 1701, 1703, 1705, 1706 and
1708. In 1701, it came to the north during the “Mov-
ing Days” (beginning of June) and “lay for a long time
after” (Fitjaannáll). The ice is also mentioned by
Eyrarannáll, which says that whales were killed “ in
the ice around the country”. In 1703, Vallaannáll
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