{"id":32507,"date":"2019-03-09T23:59:59","date_gmt":"2019-03-09T23:59:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/?p=32507"},"modified":"2019-03-20T01:36:01","modified_gmt":"2019-03-20T01:36:01","slug":"unusual-ice-loss-in-the-bering-sea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/archives\/32507","title":{"rendered":"Unusual early ice loss in the Bering Sea"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GCOM-W2<\/a>

GCOM-W1 AMSR2 Sea Ice Concentration, 01 February – 09 March 2019 [click to play animation | MP4<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p><\/div>A persistent northward transport of anomalously-warm air across the Bering Sea during the month of February 2019 led to an unusual loss of sea ice there — daily images of GCOM-W1 AMSR2 Sea Ice Concentration (source<\/strong><\/a>) from 01 February to 09 March (above)<\/strong><\/em> showed the northward retreat of ice from the Bering Sea into the Chukchi Sea. The ice reached its maximum northward extent on 04 March<\/strong><\/a>; northward ice motion was very pronounced during the 25-26 February<\/a><\/strong> and 27-28 February<\/a><\/strong> periods. In early March a synoptic pattern change then allowed cold arctic air to flow back toward the south, helping the ice concentration to begin increasing again in the northern portion of the Bering Sea.<\/p>\n

Minimal cloudiness on 28 February allowed the northward flow of ice through the Bering Strait to be seen on GOES-17 (GOES-West)<\/em> “Red” Visible (0.64 \u00b5m<\/strong><\/a>) images (below)<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"GOES-17<\/a>

GOES-17 “Red” Visible (0.64 \u00b5m)<\/em> images [click to play animation | MP4<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p><\/div>
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<\/p>\n
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Bering Sea ice extent for Mar 02 from @NSIDC<\/a> data (210000 km\u00b2) is the lowest daily #seaice<\/a> extent of record for the entire month of March & only 29% of 1981-2010 average. Previous lowest 214000 km\u00b2 on Mar 09, 2018. #Arctic<\/a> #akwx<\/a> @Climatologist49<\/a> @ZLabe<\/a> @YJRosen<\/a> @ArcticResearch<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/IzjwGXELCL<\/a><\/p>\n

— Rick Thoman (@AlaskaWx) March 3, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n