According to National Snow & Ice Data Center (NSIDC), after reaching its seasonal maximum on February 25, the beginning of the melt season was interrupted by late-season periods of ice growth, largely in the Bering Sea, Davis Strait and around Labrador.
Near the end of March, extent rose to within about 83,000 square kilometers (32,000 square miles) of the February 25 value. The monthly average Arctic sea ice extent for March was the lowest in the satellite record.
Overview of conditions
Arctic sea ice extent for March 2015 averaged 14.39 million square kilometers (5.56 million square miles). This is the lowest March ice extent in the satellite record. It is 1.13 million square kilometers (436,000 square miles) below the 1981 to 2010 long-term average of 15.52 million square kilometers (6.00 million square miles). It is also 60,000 square kilometers (23,000 square miles) above the previous record low for the month observed in 2006.
Conditions in context
The change in total Arctic sea ice extent for March is typically quite small. It tends to increase slightly during the first part of the month, reach the seasonal maximum, and then decline over the remainder of the month. Following the seasonal maximum recorded on February 25, this year instead saw a small decline over the first part of March, and then an increase, due largely to periods of late ice growth in the Bering Sea, Davis Strait and around Labrador. On March 26, extent had climbed to within 83,000 square kilometers (32,000 square miles) of the seasonal maximum recorded on February 25. Despite this late-season ice growth, analysts at the Alaska Ice Program report in their April 3 post that ice in the Bering Sea was very broken up.
Snow cover update
The unusual atmospheric circulation pattern just discussed also helps to explain the snow drought over the western United States. NSIDC scientist Andrew Slater maintains regular updates of western U.S. mountain snowpack conditions using data from the SNOTEL (snowpack telemetry) system – a network of automated sensors that measure snow water equivalent. The automated SNOTEL sites are complemented by snowcourses, where snow water equivalent is measured manually on a periodic basis.
Typically, the snowpack peaks around April 1. The April 1 snowpack over most of the western United States is far below average. At many sites, snow water equivalent is at historic lows for this time of year. Conditions are somewhat better along the Front Range of Colorado and in Arizona, Wyoming and Montana.
Source: NSIDC
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