Weather Causes Unusual Amount of Arctic Ice

http://www.trinitynewsdaily.com/arctic-sea-ice-may-reach-all-time-minimum-low/1158/

ANCHORAGE – 

Satellites that take pictures of ice in the Arctic are showing the lowest amount of sea ice ever recorded, according to scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Colorado.

“The middle part of the country and the east coast were getting a lot of the cold winter weather, whereas here in Alaska, we were getting more of the warmer weather,” Schreck explained. “There was warm air coming into the state that we don’t usually see.”

But Schreck said the ice closest to Alaska in the Bering Sea did not look significantly different from last year, with the exception that it may be thinner. She said it’s not unusual for the ice pack to change on an almost daily basis.

“What happens with the ice — especially during the spring — is so reliant on weather patterns,” Shreck said. “The current weather patterns, not what has happened over the last few months. So it is normal for it to retreat and grow back and retreat and grow back throughout the spring time.”

Shreck says it’s possible the ice pack in the Bering Sea is still growing, and may not reach it’s maximum extent for another week or so.