Update Feb. 19, 2021 to previous post
This update is to note a dramatic effect on Okhotsk Sea ice coincidental with the Polar Vortex event that froze Texas and other midwestern US states. When Arctic air extends so far south due to the weak and wavy vortex, warmer air replaces the icy air in Arctic regions. In this case, the deficits to sea ice extent appear mostly in the Sea of Okhotsk in the Pacific.
The graph below shows a sharp drop in ice extent the last three days.
A closer look into the regions shows that Okhotsk peaked at 1.1M km2 on day 37, and lost 217k km2 down to 0.9M km2 yesterday. That loss along with Bering flat extent makes up 70% of the present deficit to average.
Some comments from Dr. Judah Cohen Feb. 15 from his AER blog Arctic Oscillation and Polar Vortex Analysis and Forecasts…
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