Sea-ice thickness observational data in Arctic fjords exist mainly from the accessible fast-ice zones. Drifting sea ice, whether advected into a fjord or locally formed, is subject to strong deformation processes caused by the limitations of ice motion by the coastlines. Therefore, the ice-thickness distribution within a fjord is dependent both on the overall sea-ice situation in the bordering sea as well as dominant atmospheric conditions. Here, we present the result of three field campaigns in the Storfjord within the Svalbard Archipelago during spring of 2003, 2006 and 2007 with air- and ship-borne sea-ice thickness retrieval using electromagnetic induction sounding. The Storfjord region is the location of a recurring coastal polynya with high importance for northern Atlantic dense-water formation. In each year, measurements were carried out in a time span of a few days. These snapshots of the ice-thickness distribution are discussed in the context of atmospheric circulation patterns and ice conditions in the adjacent Barents Sea. Thin ice was observed in 2003 and 2007, when the major wind direction was northeast in the vicinity of the data retrieval. In 2006, however, though data were collected at a later period than the other years and the Barents Sea was almost ice free, the Storfjord was covered completely with very thick sea ice. The high mean thickness was the result of heavy deformation, caused by southerly winds, even exceeding the mean thickness at the southern entrance of the Storfjord in 2003, when the Barents Sea was covered with thick multi-year ice originating from the central Arctic Ocean. The results of a 1-D sea-ice growth model, forced with Barents Sea conditions, are compared with the observed sea-ice thickness distributions in the individual years. The model shows higher than average ice thickness in 2003 and substantially lower ice thickness in 2006 and 2007. These findings can be traced in the observed thickness distributions in the fast-ice sections of all years and in the central Storfjord in 2007, where the origin of the sea ice was either local or in the Barents Sea.