{"id":6044,"date":"2009-06-29T08:19:39","date_gmt":"2009-06-29T13:19:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/svalbard-ice-and-weather\/"},"modified":"2009-06-29T08:19:39","modified_gmt":"2009-06-29T13:19:39","slug":"svalbard-ice-and-weather","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/svalbard-ice-and-weather\/","title":{"rendered":"Svalbard Ice and Weather"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Svalbard-Weather-101\"<\/p>\n

The Tromso waterfront is a hive of yachting activity, with fifteen or so yachts making preparations to depart for Svalbard. On Wind Horse<\/em> we’ve been busy with provisioning, working with the arms race, and a few last minute systems checks. With departure day drawing near we hiked up to the Norwegian Met Service office to get a feel for ice and weather conditions in the near future, and to learn more about how the Met Service professionals do their jobs.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Svalbard-Weather-135\"<\/p>\n

Nick Hughes is the manager of ice forecasting,<\/p>\n

\"Svalbard-Weather-125\"<\/p>\n

and Signe Alvarstein is the duty ice forecaster. They took us through the current ice conditions.<\/p>\n

\"Svalbard-Weather-106\"<\/p>\n

Their ice images are based on satellite radar data which comes from Canadian and European satellites. Radar has the advantage of seeing through the clouds, but the data then has to be interpreted as radar shows surface texture and you have to discern the difference between waves and ice.<\/p>\n

The image above is of Svalbard.<\/p>\n

\"Svalbard-Weather-113\"<\/p>\n

Signe is pointing to sea ice off the southeast corner of the island. This is one to two meter (three to six foot) thick and is first year (virgin) ice. The age of the ice tells us how hard it is. Older ice is harder, so this is as soft as it gets. Note that Hornsound, the large bay in the center of the photo, is presently clear. However, a moderate amount of northerly breeze could break this southeastern sea ice free and then it would be carried into Hornsound by the current which circulates clockwise around these islands.<\/p>\n

\"Svalbard-Weather-116\"<\/p>\n

The bottom left of the photo above is the south corner of Svalbard. Note the sea ice off to the east (right) a ways off the coast, and well to the east in the blue area. Strong east winds would bring this into our cruising area.<\/p>\n

A few general things we learned from Nick:<\/p>\n