Meteorological observations from the Norwegian island of Jan Mayen are used to give an overview of the general meteorological conditions in the Odden area during the winter. Figure 9 shows a plot of monthly mean temperature anomalies at Jan Mayen during the past 5 years. Data are provided by NOAA and the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, and the basis for calculating the monthly mean temperatures are observed temperatures from 1923 to 1993.

It is seen that the monthly mean temperature shows positive anomalies for most of the period, meaning that temperatures have been above average (this is part of the explanation of why the ice cover has been below average over the same period). Note also the large and long-lived temperature anomalies in the winter-spring of 1994 and 1995, when the Odden failed to develop, compared to the more normal conditions in winter-spring of 1993 when an Odden occurred (Wadhams et al, 1996). This reinforces the concept of the winter Odden being a locally generated ice feature.

Note the slightly negative temperature anomaly in December 1995, followed by a positive anomaly in January and a small negative anomaly in February. March has a positive anomaly, April is about average and May and June again negative. More details of the air temperature development are given in the following sections.

Figure 9. Monthly mean air temperature anomalies at the island of Jan Mayen from January 1992 to November 1996. The label for the year (and the gridline) corresponds to January.

In the following discussion, the meteorological data from Jan Mayen are presented for three periods, December 1995 to February 1996, March to May 1996 and June to August 1996.