Ice thickness and water temperatures in the Baltic Sea on March 20, 2006. This is an addendum to the article on snow depths and sea ice routes in Estonia of two weeks ago. The ice cover has continued to expand since then and has most likely reached its maximum extent. The largest ice cover of the 2004/2005 ice season (177 000 km2) was reached on March 16 of last year. The winters with the greatest extent of ice in the last 20 years were March 1987 (405 000 km2) and Feb. 1985 (355 000 km2) when ice reached the Straits of Denmark. Feb. 1996 (262 000 km2), March 2003 (232 000 km2) and last year round out the top five. The ever-rising sun has its work cut out for it. Text: Riina Kindlam, chart: Finnish Institute of Marine Research Ice Service (www.iceservice.fi)
