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The Alaska State Climate Center
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Arctic Sea Ice Extent

Arctic Sea Ice Extent: March 21, 2024

March 21, 2024:  The sea ice has decreased this week at a small rate of 0.61% (as opposed to last week’s increase rate of 1.28%), from the level on 03/14/2024 of 14.976 M km2 to 14.885 M km2 for this week. Perhaps this is now the change to the sea ice melt season we have been waiting for.  As an aside, the current sea ice extent is still about on par with the 1991-2020 long term average. The negative sea ice anomaly this week was -0.111 M km2 on 03/21/2024, a bit more anomalously negative than the anomaly of -0.0997 M km2 on 03/14/2024.

Arctic Sea Ice Extent Archive

Arctic Sea Ice Extent: March 15, 2024

March 15, 2024:  The sea ice has increased this week at a greater growth rate of 1.28% (as opposed to last week’s increase rate of 0.01%), from the level on 03/07/2024 of 14.784 M km2 to 14.976 M km2 for this week. So we are still awaiting the change to the sea ice melt season which is probably coming pretty soon.  As an aside, the current sea ice extent is about on par with the 1991-2020 long term average as noted with the anomaly information below. The negative sea ice anomaly this week changed from -0.327 M km2 on 03/07/2024 to a lesser negative anomaly of -0.0997 M km2 on 03/14/2024, inching towards the long-term average level.

Arctic Sea Ice Extent: March 7, 2024

March 7, 2024:  The sea ice has essentially remained static this week, with essentially no change at a very tiny growth rate of 0.01% (as opposed to last week’s decrease rate of 0.27%), from the level on 02/29/2024 of 14.783 M km2 to14.784 M km2 for this week.  So, perhaps we are right on the change line to the sea ice melt season. The negative sea ice anomaly this week was greater than the anomaly of -0.154 M km2 on 02/29/2024 to a greater negative anomaly of -0.327 M km2 on 03/07/2024, and so more anomalously negative for this time of year.

Arctic Sea Ice Extent: February 29, 2024

February 29, 2024:  The sea ice has decreased this week at a pretty small rate of 0.27% (as opposed to last week’s growth rate of 1.46%), from the level on 02/22/2024 of 14.823 M km2 to 14.783 M km2 for this week.  So, perhaps we are right on the precipice of the change to the sea ice melt season. The negative sea ice anomaly this week was less than the anomaly of -0.207 M km2 on 02/22/2024 to a smaller negative anomaly of -0.154 M km2 on 02/29/2024, and so less anomalously negative for this time of year.

Arctic Sea Ice Extent: February 22, 2024

February 22, 2024:  The sea ice has increased again this week, at a rate of 1.46% (lower than last week’s rate of 2.04%), from the level on 02/15/2024 of 14.606 M km2 to 14.823 M km2 for this week.  So, we are still in the ice growth season but not a whole lot of growth; and still a tad bit early for the start of sea ice retreat season. This will be interesting to continue to watch in the coming weeks. The negative sea ice anomaly this week was less than the anomaly of -0.297 M km2 on 02/15/2024 to a smaller negative anomaly of -0.207 M km2 on 02/22/2024, and so less anomalously negative for this time of year.

Arctic Sea Ice Extent: February 15, 2024

February 15, 2024:  The sea ice has increased again this week, and at a rate of 2.04% (higher than last week’s rate of -0.60%), from the level on 02/08/2024 of 14.308 M km2 to 14.606 M km2 for this week.  So, we are still in the ice growth season but there is not a whole lot of growth. The negative sea ice anomaly this week was less pronounced than the anomaly of -0.423 M km2 on 02/08/2024 to a smaller negative anomaly of -0.297 M km2 on 02/15/2024, and so less anomalously negative for this time of year.

Arctic Sea Ice Extent: February 8, 2024

February 8, 2024:  The sea ice has increased (slightly) this week, and at a rate of 0.60% (from last week’s decrease rate of -0.36%), from the level on 02/01/2024 of 14.222 M km2 to 14.308 M km2 for this week.  So, we are in what looks like a transition area between growth and decrease. It is still a tad bit early for the start of sea ice retreat season and it will be interesting to see what happens in the coming weeks. The sea ice anomaly this week was more negative than the anomaly of -0.308 M km2 on 02/01/2024 to a greater negative anomaly of -0.423 M km2 on 02/08/2024.