Sea Ice News Volume 5 #2 – NOAA forecasts above normal Arctic ice extent for summer 2014

CFSv2_ice_anomalyBy Joe Bastardi and Anthony Watts (based on an email exchange)

This is interesting. NOAA is forecasting the months of August, September, and October of 2014 to have above normal Arctic Sea ice extent. As readers know, late September is typically the time of the Arctic Sea Ice minimum, and this year the NOAA forecast has it slightly above normal. Here is the NOAA forecast graph:

UPDATE: I no more than finished this post and NOAA had a new updated forecast for May 23rd, added below. (h/t Ric Werme)

CFSV2_ice_May23

For the last three May 12th forecasts, this year’s forecast for summer is the highest of them.

CFSV2_May_2014  Source: http://origin.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/people/wwang/cfsv2fcst/imagesInd3/sieMon.gif

Notice how much higher this is than last years forecast at this time:

CFSV2_May_2013

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/people/wwang/cfsv2_fcst_history/201305/imagesInd3/sieMon.gif

And also higher than in 2012:

CFSV2_May_2012

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/people/wwang/cfsv2_fcst_history/201205/imagesInd3/sieMon.gif

The CFSV2 forecasting model was not on line before that, but if we then go to the  Northern  hemisphere sea ice plot from Cryosphere today we can see how significant this would be if summer came out with a positive anomaly.

seaice.anomaly.arctic[1]

http://arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu/cryosphere/IMAGES/seaice.anomaly.arctic.png

It appears that all summers since about 1996 have not had any positive anomalies. (see magnified view below)

1996_pos_arctic_ice_anomaly

At the very least if we get it positive and the melt season is the lowest since the AMO went warm it will be something that goes right at the heart of the arguments that recent Arctic sea ice deviations are entirely human caused.

In addition, given the Southern Hemisphere continues with well above normal sea ice, if it continues, it gives us a shot at a record breaking global sea ice in the satellite era.

On the other hand, it is a model forecast, and may not come to be. It will be interesting to watch though.

As always, check the WUWT Sea Ice Page for the latest information.

Here is the background on CFS:

The NCEP Climate Forecast System Version 2 (CFSv2)

The CFS version 2 was developed at the Environmental Modeling Center at NCEP. It is a fully coupled model representing the interaction between the Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, land and seaice. It became operational at NCEP in March 2011.

Please reference the following article when using the CFS Reanalysis (CFSR) data.

Saha, Suranjana, and Coauthors, 2010: The NCEP Climate Forecast System Reanalysis. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 91, 1015.1057. doi: 10.1175/2010BAMS3001.1

Please reference the following article when using the CFS version 2 Reforecast model or data

Saha, Suranjana and Coauthors, 2014: The NCEP Climate Forecast System Version 2 Journal of Climate J. Climate, 27, 2185–2208. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-12-00823.1

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May 23, 2014 4:02 pm

What will the El Nino contribute to this anomaly?

May 23, 2014 4:04 pm

Thank you for this coverage, it *could get interesting* this next winter if sea ice has normalized and we have another cooler than average winter in the majority of the North American continent.
My only question is when does the Cali drought crack? Its getting hot and dusty again with out any real rain… again.

May 23, 2014 4:07 pm

We’re in a drought for sure. The question again is, “What will the El Nino contribute to this drought —ending?”

ossqss
May 23, 2014 4:08 pm

That forecast is going to send shivers down some backs.
Off topic, but an unknown meteor shower is forecast for the Northern Hemisphere tonight. Well, we have not experienced it prior. More here.
http://www.spaceweather.com/

View from the Solent
May 23, 2014 4:12 pm

‘ … this year the NOAA forecast has it slightly above normal. ‘
Define ‘normal’

May 23, 2014 4:13 pm

The “missing heat” is hiding (and very well) in the ice?
Time to move the goal post!
(Or maybe time to re-post the predictions about what the Arctic ice would do because of CAGW?)

May 23, 2014 4:15 pm

View from the Solent says:
May 23, 2014 at 4:12 pm
‘ … this year the NOAA forecast has it slightly above normal. ‘
Define ‘normal’
++++++++++
1979 to 2008 mean? You see, that was a period in which the average was anointed with what should be perfect, had man not come to thrive.

Jimbo
May 23, 2014 4:19 pm

NOAA forecasts above normal Arctic ice extent for summer 2014

Professor Peter ‘hot head’ Wadhams is right on track for his ice-free Arctic ocean I see. I can’t help thinking whether he will be just like Dr. David Viner. It will be so sad to see such an esteemed Arctic specialist being ridiculed mercilessly in the years to come. I can understand if he just made a prediction once, but he kept going on and on about it.

Daily Telegraph – 8 November 2011
Arctic sea ice ‘to melt by 2015’
Prof Wadhams said: “His [model] is the most extreme but he is also the best modeller around.
“It is really showing the fall-off in ice volume is so fast that it is going to bring us to zero very quickly. 2015 is a very serious prediction and I think I am pretty much persuaded that that’s when it will happen.”
——-
Guardian – 17 September 2012
Arctic expert predicts final collapse of sea ice within four years
“This collapse, I predicted would occur in 2015-16 at which time the summer Arctic (August to September) would become ice-free. The final collapse towards that state is now happening and will probably be complete by those dates”.
——-
Financial Times Magazine – 2 August 2013
“It could even be this year or next year but not later than 2015 there won’t be any ice in the Arctic in the summer,”
——-
The Scotsman – 12 September 2013
Arctic sea ice will vanish within three years, says expert
“The entire ice cover is now on the point of collapse.
“The extra open water already created by the retreating ice allows bigger waves to be generated by storms, which are sweeping away the surviving ice. It is truly the case that it will be all gone by 2015. The consequences are enormous and represent a huge boost to global warming.”
——-
Guardian – 17 September 2012
This collapse, I predicted would occur in 2015-16 at which time the summer Arctic (August to September) would become ice-free. The final collapse towards that state is now happening and will probably be complete by those dates“.
[Professor Peter Wadhams – Cambridge University]
——-
Arctic News – June 27, 2012
My own view of what will happen is: 1. Summer sea ice disappears, except perhaps for small multiyear remnant north of Greenland and Ellesmere Island, by 2015-16. 2. By 2020 the ice free season lasts at least a month and by 2030 has extended to 3 months…..

I am waiting Peter Wadhams. 2 years and 4 months to go – at most.

Latitude
May 23, 2014 4:23 pm

Mario Lento says:
May 23, 2014 at 4:15 pm
=====
exactly….the Arctic ocean is about 14 million km2 (I think)….so there’s plenty of wiggle room…
move that normal line down a million km2….and we have too much ice again
and now that they are counting the shoreline….they can count even more melt every summer

Jimbo
May 23, 2014 4:28 pm

Gunga Din says:
May 23, 2014 at 4:13 pm
The “missing heat” is hiding (and very well) in the ice?
Time to move the goal post!
(Or maybe time to re-post the predictions about what the Arctic ice would do because of CAGW?)

Here are a few with some having attached caveats. If there is no ice free Arctic by September 2020 then there will be a lot of blushes.

Xinhua News Agency – 1 March 2008
“If Norway’s average temperature this year equals that in 2007, the ice cap in the Arctic will all melt away, which is highly possible judging from current conditions,” Orheim said.
[Dr. Olav Orheim – Norwegian International Polar Year Secretariat]
__________________
Canada.com – 16 November 2007
“According to these models, there will be no sea ice left in the summer in the Arctic Ocean somewhere between 2010 and 2015.
“And it’s probably going to happen even faster than that,” said Fortier,””
[Professor Louis Fortier – Université Laval, Director ArcticNet]
__________________
National Geographic – 12 December 2007
“NASA climate scientist Jay Zwally said: “At this rate, the Arctic Ocean could be nearly ice-free at the end of summer by 2012, much faster than previous predictions.” ”
[Dr. Jay Zwally – NASA]
__________________
BBC – 12 December 2007
Our projection of 2013 for the removal of ice in summer is not accounting for the last two minima, in 2005 and 2007,”…….”So given that fact, you can argue that may be our projection of 2013 is already too conservative.”
[Professor Wieslaw Maslowski]
__________________
National Snow and Ice Data Center – 5 May 2008
“Could the North Pole be ice free this melt season? Given that this region is currently covered with first-year ice, that seems quite possible.”
__________________
National Geographic News – 20 June 2008
North Pole May Be Ice-Free for First Time This Summer
“We’re actually projecting this year that the North Pole may be free of ice for the first time [in history],” David Barber, of the University of Manitoba, told National Geographic News aboard the C.C.G.S. Amundsen, a Canadian research icebreaker.
[Dr. David Barber]
__________________
Independent – 27 June 2008
Exclusive: Scientists warn that there may be no ice at North Pole this summer
“…..It is quite likely that the North Pole will be exposed this summer – it’s not happened before,” Professor Wadhams said.”
[Professor Peter Wadhams – Cambridge University]
__________________
Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment Report – 2009
“…There is a possibility of an ice-free Arctic Ocean for a short period in summer perhaps as early as 2015. This would mean the disappearance of multi-year ice, as no sea ice would survive the summer melt season….”
http://www.arctis-search.com/Arctic+Marine+Shipping+Assessment+%28AMSA%29
__________________
Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences
Vol. 40: 625-654 – May 2012
The Future of Arctic Sea Ice
“…..one can project that at this rate it would take only 9 more years or until 2016 ± 3 years to reach a nearly ice-free Arctic Ocean in summer. Regardless of high uncertainty associated with such an estimate, it does provide a lower bound of the time range for projections of seasonal sea ice cover…..”
[Professor Wieslaw Maslowski]
__________________
Guardian – 11 August 2012
Very soon we may experience the iconic moment when, one day in the summer, we look at satellite images and see no sea ice coverage in the Arctic, just open water.”
[Dr Seymour Laxon – Centre for Polar Observation & Modelling – UCL]
__________________
Yale Environment360 – 30 August 2012
“If this rate of melting [in 2012] is sustained in 2013, we are staring down the barrel and looking at a summer Arctic which is potentially free of sea ice within this decade,”
[Dr. Mark Drinkwater]
__________________
Guardian – 17 September 2012
This collapse, I predicted would occur in 2015-16 at which time the summer Arctic (August to September) would become ice-free. The final collapse towards that state is now happening and will probably be complete by those dates“.
[Professor Peter Wadhams – Cambridge University]
__________________
Sierra Club – March 23, 2013
“For the record—I do not think that any sea ice will survive this summer. An event unprecedented in human history is today, this very moment, transpiring in the Arctic Ocean….”
[Paul Beckwith – PhD student paleoclimatology and climatology – part-time professor]
__________________
Financial Times Magazine – 2 August 2013
“It could even be this year or next year but not later than 2015 there won’t be any ice in the Arctic in the summer,”
[Professor Peter Wadhams – Cambridge University]
__________________
The Scotsman – 12 September 2013
“The entire ice cover is now on the point of collapse.
…….It is truly the case that it will be all gone by 2015. The consequences are enormous and represent a huge boost to global warming.”
[Professor Peter Wadhams – Cambridge University]

You may have seen comments about the North Pole being ice free for the first time. This is BS of the highest order – a complete and utter fabrication.

Jimbo
May 23, 2014 4:30 pm

The North Pole has NEVER been ice free before. It really is much worse than we thought. LOL.

New York Times – May 18, 1926
Lincoln Ellsworth of the Amundsen-Ellsworth transpolar expedition told The Associated Press here today that he saw much open water at the North Pole when he and his sixteen companions passed over it last Tuesday night in the dirigible Norge.
___________________
Edmonton Journal – 29 May 1928
Reported Open Water Near the North Pole
___________________
Ottawa Citizen – Apr 3, 1969
North Pole is the goal
…While the Pole itself doesn’t move, the ice above it does – sometimes there is open water at the site and hitting the exact loca-tion is no easy chore….
___________________
New York Times – 29 August 2000
“The fact of having no ice at the pole is not so stunning,” said Dr. Claire L. Parkinson, a climatologist at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. “But the report said the ship encountered an unusual amount of open water all the way up. That is reason for concern.”
New York Times – 29 August 2000
Correction: August 29, 2000, Tuesday A front-page article on Aug. 19 and a brief report on Aug. 20 in The Week in Review about the sighting of open water at the North Pole misstated the normal conditions of the sea ice there. A clear spot has probably opened at the pole before, scientists say, because about 10 percent of the Arctic Ocean is clear of ice in a typical summer. The reports also referred incompletely to the link between the open water and global warming. The lack of ice at the pole is not necessarily related to global warming.
___________________
Common Dreams – 4 September 2000
Climate Change Has The World Skating On Thin Ice
by Lester R. Brown
“If any explorers had been hiking to the North Pole this summer, they would have had to swim the last few miles. The discovery of open water at the Pole by an ice-breaker cruise ship in mid August surprised many in the scientific community.”
___________________
NOAA Faqs – found 18 November 2013
10. Is it true that the North Pole is now water?
Recently there have been newspaper articles describing the existence of open water at the North Pole. This situation is infrequent but has been known to occur as the ice is shifted around by winds. In itself, this observation is not meaningful.
___________________
Naval History & Heritage | U.S. Naval Institute – August 11, 2011
USS Skate (SSN-578) Becomes the First Submarine to Surface at the North Pole
…The date was 11 August 1958 and the Skate had just become the first submarine to surface at the North Pole….
http://www.navalhistory.org/2011/08/11/uss-skate-ssn-578-becomes-the-first-submarine-to-surface-at-the-north-pole
[1959???]
___________________
Navsource.org
[89] U.S. and British sailors explore the Arctic ice cap while conducting the first U.S./British coordinated surfacing at the North Pole. The ships are, left to right: the nuclear-powered attack submarine Sea Devil (SSN-664), the fleet submarine HMS Superb (S-109) , and the nuclear-powered attack submarine Billfish (SSN-676), 18 May 1987.

Robertv
May 23, 2014 4:31 pm

Thin, rotten ice above normal ?

Jimbo
May 23, 2014 4:35 pm

And here is something for those obsessed with an ‘unprecedented’ ice free Arctic – it’s not unprecedented at all.

JimS
May 23, 2014 4:36 pm

More than likely, the Arctic was ice free in the summer, circa AD 1,000 given the trading posts built by the Vikings so far north.

Latitude
May 23, 2014 4:36 pm

NOAA is forecasting the months of August, September, and October of 2014 to have above normal Arctic Sea ice extent
======
Does anyone do a forecast for the Antarctic?

KevinM
May 23, 2014 4:37 pm

Learning from Wall Street. Set an easy target then celebrate beating it.
Does anyone else see a cosine wave with advancing start angle when they look at the arctic ice graphs? It looks to me like the bottom (pi) shifts left for an earlier min and an earlier recovery.

D.I.
May 23, 2014 4:38 pm

Does anyone know,the value of 0,on an anomaly graph?

Eliza
May 23, 2014 4:39 pm

If they are guessing that it will be above anomaly September + 2 months 2014 my bet its going to stay that way and go considerably higher next NH winter…2015 and stay there. Thats when AGW will really be impossible to defend on ice melt ect….
.

Jimbo
May 23, 2014 4:39 pm

What has happened to Arctic sea ice volume in recent years? It seems to have bottomed out and is rising somewhat. It really is much worse than we thought. The Arctic is the last line to breach in the climate wars. If they lose this one and global sea ice then the jig should be up. They can then leave Climastrology and get back to doing some real, useful work for humanity instead of wetting their pants while feeding at the trough.

Eliza
May 23, 2014 4:40 pm

Of course they might change the baseline AGAIN…. LOL

May 23, 2014 4:41 pm

Don’t worry. It will be the wrong kind of ice. The most rotten, thin ice ever! It’s worse than we thought!

Janice Moore
May 23, 2014 4:44 pm

Mario Lento! Glad you are back! Good luck at Thunderhill this weekend!!
(FYI — for the WUWTers who don’t know, WUWT regular Mario Lento is not only an engineer, but a professional race car driver, see: http://www.ustcc.com/ (on far right in photo))
#(:))
Good point, Mario (at 4:15 (and nicely confirmed by Latitude at 4:23) — defining “normal” is key.
“For ninety percent of the last million years, the normal state of the Earth’s climate has been an ice age. *** The climate of the ice ages is documented in the ice layers of Greenland and Antarctica. We have cored these layers, … and studied them in the laboratory. *** We are in a cooling trend. The areal extent of global sea ice is above the twenty-year mean.”
(Source: http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/05/13/90-of-the-last-million-years-the-normal-state-of-the-earths-climate-has-been-an-ice-age/)
**************************************
THANKS FOR SHARING THOSE GREAT QUOTES, JIMBO!
************************
In case you come back, Gunga Din — I never got a chance to tell you, but, excellent video with Captain America’s “only one God” (and he doesn’t dress like that, heh).

DAS
May 23, 2014 4:46 pm

I became a “denier” when I found out that an “ice free” arctic means less than a MILLION SQUARE KILOMETERS of ice, 900 thousand square kilometers of ice is ALOT of ice. I knew then that word games were being played.
DAS

Climatologist
May 23, 2014 4:47 pm

Oh, the wizards of BS

Eliza
May 23, 2014 4:47 pm

Re LATITUDE above: if antarctica continues on its current trend it may signal the beginning of a mini or maxi ice age! Very very bad news. MY impression from viewing daily temperatures in last 12 months is that mid and northern latitude surface land temperatures are going down at SH and NH, but tropical and sub-tropical land temperatures appear normal. It could be all nonsense though as I am just guessing…LOL

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