The JAXA/ViSHOP web site is currently undergoing maintenance, but here is how their 2 day average extent graph looked for June 2nd:

Extent was 3rd lowest in the JAXA record, behind 2016 and 2019.

The Alfred Wegener Institute’s sea ice concentration data shows that the Bering Sea is now largely free of sea ice, and the areas of open water in the Beaufort, Chukchi, East Siberian and Laptev Seas continue to expand:

The sea ice concentration map also shows open water in much of Lancaster Sound. Also apparent is the widespread presence of melt ponds along the southern part of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Here’s a closer, albeit somewhat cloudy, look:

Water is now flowing onto the fast ice covering the Laptev Sea off the delta of the River Lena:

Melt ponds are also starting to form on the fast ice further south.

[Update – June 8th]

The monthly summary of atmospheric conditions over the Arctic during May 2026 shows a continuing Beaufort high pressure area. Temperatures across the Arctic basin have been generally on the cool side, with “hotspots” in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and East Siberian Sea:

The NSIDC monthly average extent graph for May shows 2026 second lowest once again, this time behind 2016:

It’s time to start taking a closer look at snow cover across the Arctic. Northern Hemisphere snow extent at a historical low for the date:

The Rutgers Snow Lab map shows negative anomalies across Siberia and northern Canada

Here too is the current GFS snow depth map:

[Update – June 11th]

The JAXA/ViSHOP web site is finally back in action. Two day averaged extent is currently 3rd lowest for the date:

In other news, bottom melt seems to have started at the location of both the ice mass balance buoys which have been drifting across the Beaufort Sea since last autumn:

In both cases the maximum ice thickness reached over the winter was around 1.5 meters.

The Beaufort high pressure regime seems to be changing. In addition to the two cyclones at the end of last month, on June 9th another cyclone reached a minimum central pressure of 984 hPa over the Beaufort Sea:

P.S. Heading over to the Arctic Sea Ice Forum to impart some of the above news I was greeted by this curious error message:

[Update – June 14th]

The latest in the sequence of Arctic cyclones has entered the Kara Sea:

It is currently forecast by GFS to bottom out at 966 hPa over the Laptev Sea tomorrow evening UTC:

[Update – June 16th]

After a slow start to 2026, Greenland ice sheet melt area reached a new maximum for the date yesterday:

The current Arctic cyclone bottomed out at 970 hPa at midnight UTC:

It is forecast to slowly fill in whilst wandering across the Central Arctic Basin for the rest of this week. Here’s a “false colour” image of the swirl of cloud caused by the cyclone this morning:

The choice of frequencies makes it easier to distinguish clouds from snow and ice. It also reveals extensive melt ponding on the fast ice in the Laptev Sea, and plenty of open water north of the New Siberian Islands.

[Update – June 21th]

Sentinel 1 and MODIS imagery suggest that the Kane Basin arch in the Nares Strait is breaking up:

Watch this space!