diff --git a/cicecore/cicedyn/dynamics/ice_transport_remap.F90 b/cicecore/cicedyn/dynamics/ice_transport_remap.F90
index f91f96a33..b397b94b7 100644
--- a/cicecore/cicedyn/dynamics/ice_transport_remap.F90
+++ b/cicecore/cicedyn/dynamics/ice_transport_remap.F90
@@ -1927,17 +1927,18 @@ subroutine locate_triangles (nx_block,     ny_block,   &
          jse_br =  0
 
          ! area scale factor
+         ! earea, narea valid on halo
 
-         do j = jlo-1, jhi
-         do i = ilo, ihi
+         do j = 1, ny_block
+         do i = 1, nx_block
             areafac_c(i,j) = narea(i,j)
          enddo
          enddo
 
          ! area scale factor for other edge (east)
          
-         do j = jlo-1, jhi+1
-            do i = ilo-1, ihi
+         do j = 1, ny_block
+         do i = 1, nx_block
             areafac_ce(i,j) = earea(i,j)
          enddo
          enddo
@@ -1978,17 +1979,18 @@ subroutine locate_triangles (nx_block,     ny_block,   &
          jse_br = -1
 
          ! area scale factors
+         ! earea, narea valid on halo
 
-         do j = jlo, jhi
-         do i = ilo-1, ihi
+         do j = 1, ny_block
+         do i = 1, nx_block
             areafac_c(i,j) = earea(i,j)
          enddo
          enddo
 
          ! area scale factor for other edge (north)
 
-         do j = jlo-1, jhi
-         do i = ilo-1, ihi+1
+         do j = 1, ny_block
+         do i = 1, nx_block
             areafac_ce(i,j) = narea(i,j)
          enddo
          enddo
diff --git a/cicecore/cicedyn/infrastructure/ice_grid.F90 b/cicecore/cicedyn/infrastructure/ice_grid.F90
index 770ee9ed9..160e3cc64 100644
--- a/cicecore/cicedyn/infrastructure/ice_grid.F90
+++ b/cicecore/cicedyn/infrastructure/ice_grid.F90
@@ -82,14 +82,14 @@ module ice_grid
          dyE    , & ! height of E-cell through the middle (m)
          HTE    , & ! length of eastern edge of T-cell (m)
          HTN    , & ! length of northern edge of T-cell (m)
-         tarea  , & ! area of T-cell (m^2)
-         uarea  , & ! area of U-cell (m^2)
-         narea  , & ! area of N-cell (m^2)
-         earea  , & ! area of E-cell (m^2)
-         tarear , & ! 1/tarea
-         uarear , & ! 1/uarea
-         narear , & ! 1/narea
-         earear , & ! 1/earea
+         tarea  , & ! area of T-cell (m^2), valid in halo
+         uarea  , & ! area of U-cell (m^2), valid in halo
+         narea  , & ! area of N-cell (m^2), valid in halo
+         earea  , & ! area of E-cell (m^2), valid in halo
+         tarear , & ! 1/tarea, valid in halo
+         uarear , & ! 1/uarea, valid in halo
+         narear , & ! 1/narea, valid in halo
+         earear , & ! 1/earea, valid in halo
          tarean , & ! area of NH T-cells
          tareas , & ! area of SH T-cells
          ULON   , & ! longitude of velocity pts, NE corner of T pts (radians)
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ module ice_grid
          ELON   , & ! longitude of center of east face of T pts (radians)
          ELAT   , & ! latitude of center of east face of T pts (radians)
          ANGLE  , & ! for conversions between POP grid and lat/lon
-         ANGLET , & ! ANGLE converted to T-cells
+         ANGLET , & ! ANGLE converted to T-cells, valid in halo
          bathymetry      , & ! ocean depth, for grounding keels and bergs (m)
          ocn_gridcell_frac   ! only relevant for lat-lon grids
                              ! gridcell value of [1 - (land fraction)] (T-cell)
@@ -635,12 +635,24 @@ subroutine init_grid2
       call ice_HaloUpdate (uarea,              halo_info, &
                            field_loc_NEcorner, field_type_scalar, &
                            fillValue=c1,       tripoleOnly=.true.)
+      call ice_HaloUpdate (narea,              halo_info, &
+                           field_loc_Nface,    field_type_scalar, &
+                           fillValue=c1,       tripoleOnly=.true.)
+      call ice_HaloUpdate (earea,              halo_info, &
+                           field_loc_Eface,    field_type_scalar, &
+                           fillValue=c1,       tripoleOnly=.true.)
       call ice_HaloUpdate (tarear,             halo_info, &
                            field_loc_center,   field_type_scalar, &
                            fillValue=c1,       tripoleOnly=.true.)
       call ice_HaloUpdate (uarear,             halo_info, &
                            field_loc_NEcorner, field_type_scalar, &
                            fillValue=c1,       tripoleOnly=.true.)
+      call ice_HaloUpdate (narear,             halo_info, &
+                           field_loc_Nface,    field_type_scalar, &
+                           fillValue=c1,       tripoleOnly=.true.)
+      call ice_HaloUpdate (earear,             halo_info, &
+                           field_loc_Eface,    field_type_scalar, &
+                           fillValue=c1,       tripoleOnly=.true.)
 
       call ice_timer_stop(timer_bound)