Scott Duncan Profile picture
Scottish meteorologist based in London | MMet @UniofReading | Former co-owner @wxcharts | opinions are my own

Jun 21, 2021, 7 tweets

The Arctic heatwave ongoing in Siberia is contributing to continued record-low sea ice extent in the Laptev Sea. It reached a staggering +31.4°C (88.5°F) at 73 degrees north.

NASA satellite imagery just in captures the break-up in exceptional detail.

THREAD

This is the Laptev Sea ice extent up to 20 June 2021.

2020 was by far the most extreme melt season in the area. But this year continues to break that record comfortably.

This is the weather observations from earlier today in the area.

For those interested, you can access these maps at: ogimet.com/cgi-bin/ogimet…

To be clear, this is not a temperature record. I have been chatting with @EKMeteo and he has reminded us that last year reached 31.4°C on 24 June here and then a mind-blowing 34.3°C on 30 June 2020.

The low ice extent in the surrounding Laptev Sea is record breaking.

Those looking for the satellite imagery, you can grab it here: worldview.earthdata.nasa.gov

An excellent resource for observing our planet.

Roasting hot out there. We are also at the summer solstice, relentless daylight and minimum temperature not dropping below 20-25°C widely within the Arctic Circle.

This is referred to as a 'tropical night'. Although, the word 'night' is rather redundant in Arctic summer.

Temperatures are locally 20-25°C hotter than the climate average for this time of year. This part of the world gets some of the most impressive temperature extremes.

Map via @khaustein's website here: karstenhaustein.com/climate.php

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