Weather conditons at the North Pole

3.2 metre waves in Nares Strait

Yesterday I posted a photograph which shows the fragmentation of sea ice close to the North Pole.

This shows that there are 3.2 metre waves in Nares Strait, between Greenland and the Canadian Arctic

[ windy.com/?waves%2C72.236%2C-58.008%2C5

Nullschool shows the same phenomenon as well as up to 30 km/hr winds in the area near the North Pole

Also see this - 

Climate Reanalyzer shows sea temperature anomalies of up to 4C

If you are as unclear as I am about some of the geography you will need a map.

Until I saw yesterday’s photo I was under the impression that we might be headed for a near-record. However seeing how the ice in the vicinity of the Pole is breaking up and the winds and warmth that are striking the region I would find it hard to believe that any ice, other than the small amount of thick, multi-year ice that has been pushed by currents to just north of Greenland, is going to survive the melt season.

Unless, that is, there is going to be a massive out-of-season re-freeze.

From what I remember last year the melt was less than expected partially because of lots of cloud cover over the area (unusual in and of itself).

However the melt is happening from underneath and a lot depends on weather conditions in the area (storms etc.)

There are people watching this very closely, especially at Neven’s sea ice blog.

I shall endeavour to keep you up to date as the planet's thermostat is destroyed in real- time.