July was once again dominated by low pressure and anomalously low temperatures over the central Arctic:

As a consequence the NSIDC monthly average extent for July was 6th lowest in their record going back to 1979:

August began with low pressure still dominant. According to the Canadian Meteorological Centre yet another cyclone bottomed out with a mean sea level pressure of 973 hPa on the 4th:

The continuing cyclonic activity has dispersed the sea ice, and JAXA extent is currently 12th lowest in their record:

The other side of the same coin is that reduced sea ice concentration is now apparent across large areas of the Central Arctic Basin:

Another, less intense, storm is due to arrive over the coming weekend. Here is the current GFS forecast for Saturday morning:

Watch this space!