At the beginning of last month JAXA/ViSHOP extent was third lowest for the date in the satellite era. With the date of the 2025 minimum extent rapidly approaching that is no longer the case:

Whilst JAXA extent is now 10th lowest, PIOMAS volume remains second lowest for the date:

Here’s the associated thickness map. Note the change of scale from last month

Compare and contrast that map with the AWI’s sea ice concentration map, particularly in the Beaufort Sea area:

Also compare those two with the NSIDC’s MASIE extent map:

For a fourth opinion on where sea ice cover remains in the Beaufort Sea, see also the the Canadian Ice Service‘s latest concentration chart:

Evidently the choice of satellite sensors and data processing algorithms can result in a big difference in the calculated sea ice extent!

The pale pink areas on another CIS chart, this time showing the ice “stage of development”, reveal that the refreeze has begun in the Nares Strait and Nansen Sound:

Of course at lower latitudes the ice is still melting, including in the Beaufort Sea, so…

Watch this space!