Persistent Arctic Ice Mid June

In June, ice extents are declining as usual, except for the early melting in Bering and Okhotsk Seas.  The image above from DMI shows widespread thick ice across the Arctic core, likely to melt more slowly.  The graph above shows how much volume was added since March 2018, bringing it close to 2014, a particularly icy year.

The graph below shows how the Arctic extent from MASIE has faired the first two weeks of June up to yesterday, compared to the 11 year average and to some years of interest.

Note that 2018 is now matching the 11-year average, as well as 2017 and 2007.  SII 2018 is tracking MASIE 2018 closely.

The table shows regional ice extents compared to average and 2007.

Region	2018165	Day 165 Average	2018-Ave.	2007165	2018-2007
(0) Northern_Hemisphere	10915601	10987296	-71695	10959202	-43601
(1) Beaufort_Sea	1029988	964246	65742	952869	77119
(2) Chukchi_Sea	756185	803037	-46852	770182	-13997
(3) East_Siberian_Sea	1067948	1051979	15968	1040890	27058
(4) Laptev_Sea	722052	786204	-64152	755629	-33577
(5) Kara_Sea	870277	716595	153682	770755	99522
(6) Barents_Sea	201802	222598	-20796	264253	-62451
(7) Greenland_Sea	444260	578046	-133786	574726	-130465
(8) Baffin_Bay_Gulf_of_St._Lawrence	763976	741257	22719	778469	-14493
(9) Canadian_Archipelago	808464	798083	10381	781578	26886
(10) Hudson_Bay	1063014	1014784	48230	997061	65953
(11) Central_Arctic	3165771	3224235	-58464	3224700	-58929
(12) Bering_Sea	8803	42373	-33570	15285	-6482
(13) Baltic_Sea	0	7	-7	0	0
(14) Sea_of_Okhotsk	11757	42495	-30738	31131	-19373

Note that Bering and Okhotsk account for the 2018 deficit to average.  Chukchi, Laptev and Greenland Seas are down somewhat, but offset by surpluses in Kara Sea, Beaufort Sea and Hudson Bay. The differences from 2007 are similar.

The Pacific basins of Bering and Okhotsk are the first to lose ice, and it will be interesting to see how the core Arctic Seas holds up this summer.  Chukchi is down, perhaps influenced by the early melting in Bering, but is offset by surpluses in Beaufort and East Siberian.