Most Warm Spring in U.S. History; Will the Arctic Ice-pack Set a Record for Melt This Year?

U.S.A. Today reported that the spring weather for the United States ran a little more than five degrees above normal. Interesting.

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/story/2012-06-07/record-warm-spring-usa/55442584/1?csp=34news

That brings the anticipation that this may be a record year for Arctic Sea ice melt, yet it is not necessarily so. While the 48 states were warm, Alaska is cooler than usual-thats just the way the cookie crumbles.

It is possible to see3 open water near Parry Strait I think (the eastern entrance to the high Northwest Passage and also near the Canada-Alaska border region in the photo below from 'The Crysophere Today of the Icepack June 6, 2012

image credit; N.O.A.A., National Snow and Ice Data Center et al.

http://arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu/cryosphere/