Brief communication: The anomalous winter 2019 sea-ice conditions in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica

McMurdo Sound sea ice can generally be partitioned into two regimes: (1) a stable fast-ice cover, forming south of approximately 77.6 degrees S around March-April and then breaking out the following January-February, and (2) a more dynamic region north of 77.6 degrees S that the McMurdo Sound and Ross Sea polynyas regularly impact. In 2019, a stable fast-ice cover formed unusually late due to repeated break-out events. We analyse the 2019 sea-ice conditions and relate them to a modified storm index (MSI), a proxy for southerly wind events. We find there is a strong correlation between the timing of break-out events and several unusually large MSI events.

Automated summary

In 2019, the sea ice conditions in McMurdo Sound were unusual, with a late formation of stable fast-ice cover correlated strongly with several unusually large southerly wind events.