Snow & Ice coverage in the Northern Hemisphere Winter 2020/21

[DavidS]

Snow continuing its westward advance.  
 

[BornFromTheVoid]

We enter December as 2nd lowest on record, slightly above 2016

However, the main reason we're above 2016 is due to Hudson Bay. We are currently 15th highest, while 2016 was 2nd lowest (for November 30th), a difference of over half a million km2.

Conversely, we are once again lowest on record for the Russian Arctic Sea's and the Central Arctic

 

[Midlands Ice Age]

A very positive from Masie today, following a stasis lasting about a week.

Masie extent up to 10,417K Km2 an increase of 200K, but still in 2nd last position.

No areas recorded losses and gains where evenly spread  with Chukchi (+29K, following 59K yesterday) and ESS(+5K) the most visible, Barents gained (+12K) and Kara (+2K),  but Greenland added (+39K) and the CAB rebounded back once again with (+36K).

Hudson (+49K) is now about 3/4 full, and Baffin moved up (+19K). Of note is that the Newfoundland coast has started to see ice.

In the Pacific,  Bering (+11K) and SOO (+8K) increased and look ready to move upwards.

Northerly winds are now expected into both Barents and the Pacific through Bering, so I expect sea ice to expand at, at least  normal rates,  for the next few days.  

A look at a poor map on the face of it,  for sea ice lovers, however the fact that ice extent and volume are still not in last position gives considerable hope that sea ice is very capable of making a recovery. 

         

 

MIA

[Beanz]

Feels like things have finally shifted up a gear 

[Midlands Ice Age]

Looks like ice in the Pacific 'basin' is now lifting off.

Masie total sea ice extent  10566K Km2 an increase of 159K Km2. Still in second place, but now within 50K of both 2019 and 2006.  Expect 2020 to move out of second position shortly. 

'Pacific' basin stealing the show, bit with the exception of one negative on the Russian front.

Chukchi (+43K), ESS (+6K), Bering (+13K) and SOO (+18K), all looking healthy now for further growth.

Barents (+20K), Greenland (+30K) and the CAB (+34K) now making headway again with northerlies predominating.

Baffin (+15K), and Hudson (+31K) continue with their freeze up.

The only negative was that the ice in Kara had a bit of a collapse, with (-53K). Caused by the final continuation of south westerlies through the area.

I believe that the stasis is now over..

MIA

 

[Bullseye]

Akureyri Police Help People To Work In Historic Cold Spell
https://t.co/RoZv9DacuX

[Midlands Ice Age]

Masie today....

Still shows  the same themes with sea ice slowly recovering...

Arctic sea ice extent   10609K Km2  an increase of 53K Km2. Still in 2 nd position.

Russian seas all positive again with Chukchi (+10K), ESS (0), Kara (+24K) and finally Barents (+12K).

CAB gained (+11K), Greenland however fell (-48K) along a wide front.

This was despite a sudden apparent freeze around Iceland. (see below). I have not seen this occur around the eastern, southern and western coasts before, Normally any freeze  starts off in the fjords in the North.  Could it be an error?  

Baffin reported  (+18K), and Hudson (+29K). Bering (-1K)  and SOO (-6K) retracted after large gains yesterday, which also may have been an anomaly.

Temperatures in Siberia in the forecast outlook are now looking lower (-40C and below),  and are lower than Greenland for the first time for 4 years. 

 Click twice for max size.

Map of Iceland and Greenland Sea

MIA

Edited December 3, 2020 by Midlands Ice Age

[Aleman]

4 hours ago, Midlands Ice Age said:

This was despite a sudden apparent freeze around Iceland. (see below). I have not seen this occur around the eastern, southern and western coasts before, Normally any freeze  starts off in the fjords in the North.  Could it be an error?  

Baffin reported  (+18K), and Hudson (+29K). Bering (-1K)  and SOO (-6K) retracted after large gains yesterday, which also may have been an anomaly.

Temperatures in Siberia in the forecast outlook are now looking lower (-40C and below),  and are lower than Greenland for the first time for 4 years. 

 Click twice for max size.

Map of Iceland and Greenland Sea

MIA

It rang a bell and a quick search found an old post of mine on another site which might help:

"Aleman - 31 Dec 2017 - 18:32:26

freddie - ice is still not extending any further from Greenland to Iceland but Weatherbell is now showing patchy coastal sea ice forming around the West, South and East coasts of Iceland. I've not seen this before. DMI seems to partially confirm by showing patches of 1C+ colder than (1981-2010) average sea in the same locations."

 

Anyway, why should it not happen on the south coast? I've seen "sea ice" form temporarily from snow on very cold sea away from land before a couple of times, notably northeast of Nova Scotia (for a few days before remelting) where cold currents sometimes come down with melting icebergs. Could the Icelandic patches just be where it happens to snow heavily on cold calm seas? It's been snowing from moderate northerlies recently so the south coast would be the calmer side.  I've put some flash freezes in the Arctic down to heavy snows in the past.  The only difference would be it's a bit too warm around Iceland to stick around for long.

 

 

 

[Midlands Ice Age]

10 hours ago, Aleman said:

It rang a bell and a quick search found an old post of mine on another site which might help:

"Aleman - 31 Dec 2017 - 18:32:26

freddie - ice is still not extending any further from Greenland to Iceland but Weatherbell is now showing patchy coastal sea ice forming around the West, South and East coasts of Iceland. I've not seen this before. DMI seems to partially confirm by showing patches of 1C+ colder than (1981-2010) average sea in the same locations."

 

Anyway, why should it not happen on the south coast? I've seen "sea ice" form temporarily from snow on very cold sea away from land before a couple of times, notably northeast of Nova Scotia (for a few days before remelting) where cold currents sometimes come down with melting icebergs. Could the Icelandic patches just be where it happens to snow heavily on cold calm seas? It's been snowing from moderate northerlies recently so the south coast would be the calmer side.  I've put some flash freezes in the Arctic down to heavy snows in the past.  The only difference would be it's a bit too warm around Iceland to stick around for long.

 

 

 

Thanks Aleman..

I do remember the incident to the NE of Nova Scotia. I have wondered whether some of the flash freezes can be put down to snowfall myself. Clearly would be 'mushy slush' but sufficient to trigger the ice signal (25%?).

Anyway todays US NIC shows snow gains into W Europe, with Southern Germany the main area.

Sea ice following on the gains around Russia  (Kara a big strike back today), but Hudson seems to be having  a compaction day for the first time this year.

(Perhaps its all the Polar bears chasing the seals?  )

        

MIA

[DavidS]

4 hours ago, Midlands Ice Age said:

Thanks Aleman..

I do remember the incident to the NE of Nova Scotia. I have wondered whether some of the flash freezes can be put down to snowfall myself. Clearly would be 'mushy slush' but sufficient to trigger the ice signal (25%?).

Anyway todays US NIC shows snow gains into W Europe, with Southern Germany the main area.

Sea ice following on the gains around Russia  (Kara a big strike back today), but Hudson seems to be having  a compaction day for the first time this year.

(Perhaps its all the Polar bears chasing the seals?  )

        

MIA

Yes,  European snow coverage is improving. I also notice a few pixels in Scotland, which should be increased today I guess.

[Midlands Ice Age]

Todays Masie...

Not as good today - due to a large apparent loss in Greenland (-50K).

Total extent today   10,623K Km2 an increase of just 3K Km2. Still in 2nd position .

Russian front still improving with Chukchi (+10K), ESS (+1K), Barents (+25K), and Bering (+10K)..

Kara (-7K) is still not certain, but I feel it will fill in now,  with the approaching ice pack. Greenland lost ( as above ), and as suggested in my previous post, Hudson (-21K) must have compacted a bit as temperatures are still quite low.

CAB (+3K) moves out towards Svalbard, but retracts in the Greenland Sea area.

A further update on Iceland is that the 'apparent' ice has again expanded there, particularly the western coast, even though ice was moving all the way around   (Greenland),

Must be a lot of snow on the north easterly gales!.

Thickness and volume still moving at normal seasonal rates, and temps above 80 degrees now dropping again. (DMI)

        

 

MIA

 

   

 

Edited December 4, 2020 by Midlands Ice Age

[Aleman]

7 hours ago, Midlands Ice Age said:

Thanks Aleman..

I do remember the incident to the NE of Nova Scotia. I have wondered whether some of the flash freezes can be put down to snowfall myself. Clearly would be 'mushy slush' but sufficient to trigger the ice signal (25%?).

Anyway todays US NIC shows snow gains into W Europe, with Southern Germany the main area.

Sea ice following on the gains around Russia  (Kara a big strike back today), but Hudson seems to be having  a compaction day for the first time this year.

(Perhaps its all the Polar bears chasing the seals?  )

        

MIA

I always thought snowfall was major contributor to ice formation in two ways. Once the sea cools to -2C and lower,  it will want to start to freeze but any movement will inhibit that.  A good snowfall will deposit pure ice which will not want to melt if the sea is -2C or lower. The snow layer will then dampen the surface movement down, allowing the seawater to start to freeze under the snow, with the snow also acting as a nucleating/propogating point for ice crystals to form downwards.

Edited December 4, 2020 by Aleman

[Midlands Ice Age]

Masie update today  (and I will include my first NH view on Ozone levels).

Arctic sea ice extent totals 10659K Km2 an increase of (+39K) on yesterday, still in 2nd place.

The steady increase in Russian sea ice has continued though with many swings -

Chukchi (+27K) and today Kara (+54K) moved up   (southwards!), whereas  Barents (-15K) lost after 4 days of gains.

Greenland (+2K) steadied after2 days of large losses,  and the Central pack increased by just (+2K).  

North America finally stopped its rapid climb with Baffin (-26K) and Hudson (-16K).

Pacific gains of (+8K) in Bering, whilst the SOO was unchanged. 

Iceland still holding its sea ice, though a small patch has appeared (as expected) in the Northern Fjords.

 

First chart of Northern Hemisphere ozone levels  as it gathers over the Northern Hemisphere.

Interestingly the large excess at the moment has appeared in the Pacific in the Bering Sea, but a smaller patch is also showing over the UK. It seems at the moment to be moved around and correlated with the jet streams. 

Whereas the southern Hemisphere is now rapidly losing its good build up this year, and the larger ozone 'hole' of this year is also now infilling.

MIA

 

Edited December 5, 2020 by Midlands Ice Age

[Aleman]

Odd things near Iceland: free floating ice and an odd extending range of cold air temperatures. Has there been heavy snow and there is floating slush everywhere?

 

[Midlands Ice Age]

USNIC this morning..

Finally we have snow in the UK..

Scotland north and south and the Pennines showing up this morning for pretty good coverage.

Sea Ice small gains in most areas, although the US side of Chukchi looks to have contracted a bit due to the winds.

   

MIA 

 

 

[BornFromTheVoid]

Sea ice volume is 2nd lowest on record, slightly above 2016. The difference between 2020 and 2016 is more than accounted for by 2020s extra ice in the Greenland Sea and Hudson Bay. For the Arctic seas themselves, overall 2020 is slightly below 2016.

 

[Midlands Ice Age]

Thanks for PIOMAS reports above.

Looking carefully at the difference chart, all the US are above average,  the Russian side are below.

This compares with the Danish Met Institute graph (DMI. below) which may now be in equal last position.

  

Volume in the Arctic basin is  low, but is currently high outside.

 

Masie extent report for today..   (actually includes 2 days (summarised),  as I was unable to report yesterday.

At todays date extent is 10869K Km2 - an increase of 187K Km2 of which 150K occurred today, and still  in 2nd position..

Russian side is now leading the increases with Chukchi (+25K), Kara (+48K), Barents (+52K) and Greenland (+37K). 

Central (CAB) gained (+12K).

The US sector has stalled with Baffin (-1K), and Hudson (+22K).

Bering is increasing steadily now outside the Straits (+14K). whereas SOO remained remained static.

There are now first signs of ice in the Baltic, but non reported yet on Masie.

Cooke Inlet has doubled in size today (+1K), as the cold continues in Alaska, 

Iceland continued to intrigue, as it is still showing increasing ice (now around all coasts).  Earliest I have seen for a few years.

It is now looking as though the 'snow' may well have frozen on the surface and started up the sea ice in  the area. 

MIA 

Edited December 7, 2020 by Midlands Ice Age

[Midlands Ice Age]

Another century gain on Masie...

Masie today 10.986K Km2,   an increase of 117K Km2, and still in 2nd position.

Gains in the Russian sector were widespread but a bit muted with Chukchi (+10K), Kara (+18K)  and Barents (+5K),

Kara now looks primed with patches of ice appearing at sea,

Greenland (+2K) and Baffin (+6K), both increased, whilst Hudson also came  back to life (+54K).

Bering and the SOO.  both gained with (+3K) and (+5K).

Only CAB lost (-16K) as the ice pushed northwards around Svalbard, temporarily.

Iceland still persists with its excess ice, though it looked to have stabilised after its growth period.

 

The 'outlook' is now showing that the Arctic temperature is falling (at last), and it appears that the Central Arctic cold high is taking charge. It is going to make  an interesting period of ice watching, particularly  if the cold spreads out into Europe.

Already, quite large areas in Siberia are dropping below -35c.(max), and minimums below -45C.

 

MIA 

Edited December 8, 2020 by Midlands Ice Age

[Midlands Ice Age]

USNIC tonight...

Snow cover still stuck in Eastern Europe, although now a more general cover.. Moscow now dropping to -6 to -10C is a sign that colder air is encroaching slowly.

Sea ice cover - general rises in all areas. Maybe another century again.

The ice seems to be approaching Svalbard from the East,  rather than the North.

 

 

MIA

[Midlands Ice Age]

Another Masie day..  (and a quick look at worldwide sea ice).

Extent up to 11,077K Km2, an increase of 91KKm2, still in second position.

Gains in Chukchi (+2K), Kara (+28K), Greenland (+3K) and Baffin (+23K). Whereas Barents (-18K) lost some ground. 

Hudson (+22k), Bering(+5K) and SOO (+3K).

We look to be in a spell of steady gains now, with the gains steadily catching up on average figures.

JAXA shows this for the last month (thanks to ASIF)

    

which has led to the situation that Arctic sea ice has increased by nearly 500,00K Km2  (which is 8%)  more than the average of the last decade. 

World wide sea ice also still continues at a a higher actual level than  the average for the last decade.

 

 

Mainly due to the 14th highest sea ice amount in Antarctica in the last 20years.

MIA

 

 

[Midlands Ice Age]

US NIC has been disbanded, and now shows a northern hemisphere total view.

Someone know a different link?

Masie today. another just above average day with smallish  general increases.

Extent total 11,155K Km2 - an increase of (+78K). Still second position in front of 2016.

Chukchi (+28K), Kara (+5K) and Barents (+18K) all continued growth.   Greenland (+3K), Baffin (+12K) and Hudson (+2K)  similar.

The CAB (+8K) moved to close off the 80 degrees latitude line, and Bering (+12K) is now closing in on the Straits.

Not really any sign of ice in the other 'outer' sea areas yet.

With high pressure now beginning to dominate the Artic Basin at the time of year , and in such a position that the air circulates around the Ocean, (rather than being ejected out) the temperatures are starting to tumble down to their normal for this time of year, with the combination of clear skies and total darkness. It will be interesting to see where this takes the ice as I do not recall seeing this situation when the darkness is so complete, for at least 5 years, and possibly a lot longer.

 

 

The cold becoming particularly severe in Russia over the next 10days ( Min temps around -55C widely with max around -30C), but also very cold spreading to North America.

 

 

 MIA   

 

Edited December 10, 2020 by Midlands Ice Age

[manx_mick]

Arctic Ice Products

USICECENTER.GOV

---

U.S. National Ice Center's Arctic Product section containing all charts, support files, and information.

This link seems quite good although not sure it gives you your required information MIA

[Winter wonder]

There almost seems to be an ice bridge now between Greenland and Iceland looking at this image.

 

[BornFromTheVoid]

Ice growth so far this refreeze, at increments of 10 days. 

[Northwest NI]

See next post below. I forgot to quote the post I was replying to

Edited December 11, 2020 by Northwest NI