European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - November 28, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday november 28, 1987 the stars and stripes skating rink builders found no ice in Iceland How absurd but True Page 9 ii i ski . I a. Bureau pm i Vik. Iceland so who would think that water would t free a in ice land Well the people who tried to build the outdoor skating rink on the base obviously did t. So what they now have is nil Ilc Sid Lilly Lilly Liat i icel. Lids it. They did t consult the weather of fice said head Weatherman nay ice in Iceland like outdoor hockey won t skate. There s no question about it very Seldom do you have consistently Long periods in the wintertime when the weather is below  Pearson said. And that s what you need to get water to Frece Long enough to get a skate on the problem is simple it does t stay cold enough Long enough. In Winter As in most of the year the Temps Are relatively moderate. One Day it could be col enough to make ice hut the next Day too warm to keep it solid. So skaters Are out of Luck. But what about that weather everybody hears about they Don t Call it Iceland for nothing do they Pearson can dispel some but not All. Of those bad weather myths about the North Atlantic Island. It in t the frigid place the name con notes. The Mercury does t spend a lot of time on the cold Side of 30 degrees  in hit Pearson said. And it does t go much Ahoe 50 in the summer. Iceland ers might see Snow in every month but August and then relatively Little of it. Buffalo and Chicago with 150 inches of the White stuff each year get twice As much. Despite being on a parallel w Ith North Ern Canada and Scandinavia Iceland boasts a relatively warm climate. It s a lot of  said Pearson considering the Bone chilling. 30-below Temps neighbouring Greenland gels. The difference is the Gulf Stream that comes up off the East coast of the United states Pearson said. That warm current bathes Iceland Ami goes Over toward  inc Inland is not so Lucky. Its position a few Hundred Miles to the West Means it gels the Arctic breezes and Chilly weather. Ii we were 200 Miles to the West we would have the Type of climate that Fin Inland jigs Pearson said. There is a Host of other meteorological reasons like High and Low  moving Here and there that help Iceland s weather to be what it  said. And the water that sur rounds the Island never gets much warmer than 50 de Grees or colder than 40 degrees. When it comes Down to it. Iceland deserves some of the bad rap it gets for its weather but the rap should go to Pearson the Island s winds not . People at the Kef Lavik base jokingly but respectfully rate the winds unofficially in dumpster conditions which Are based on the Altitude and Speed at which the giant steel trash boxes take flight and Advance across parking lots in the icelandic gusts. Pearson said the plateau based Airfield gets it had. Kef Lavik is a great place for an Airport but our winds Are  Pearson said. The weather we get is much More  he uses the word vigorous but that s a relative term when you re talking about 40 to 60 Mph winds twice a week in the Winter. The average wind Speed is be tween 15 and 20 Mph All year round. That i think is the most demanding a Peel of living on base said Pearson. Is photos by Linda w. Sparks Isle fur Berg Leinson of the icelander weather Bureau launches a weather balloon. Petty officer Pei by a. Parker snips off a portion of the wind Chart at the naval  � weather uffict1. Soman apprentice David w. N i concentrate As he plots course of the winds in Fidmik