From Neven's blog: Cyclone warning!

[XemaSab]

I have postponed this post until I was sure that what follows is going to happen.

Remember the term 'flash melting'? That's when from one day to the next large swathes of ice disappear on the University of Bremen sea ice concentration maps. We witnessed one such instance last year when a relatively large and intense low-pressure area moved in from Alaska over the ice in the Beaufort and Chukchi Sea regions (see blog post). It lasted about a day or two and then quickly faded, but the effects were spectacular.

Well, it looks like we have something bigger coming up this year. This is the ECMWF weather forecast for the coming four days (click for a bigger version):

http://neven1.typepad.com/.a/6a0133f03a1e37970b017743ecf16f970d-800wi

Not only does this low-pressure area, or cyclone, look bigger, more intense and longer-lasting than the one from last year, the ice also seems to be in a weaker state than ever, as evidenced by the fact that 2012 trend lines on both sea ice area and sea ice extent graphs track lower than previous record years, despite weather that until recently would completely stall the decline.

http://neven1.typepad.com/blog/2012/08/cyclone-warning.html

[phantom power]

1. Wasn't a sustained wind event what gave us the 2007 record?

[GliderGuider]

2. Pass me some of that. Extra-salty, please.

[joshcryer]

3. Flash melting graphic (one day of melting):

From this heavily updated post: http://neven1.typepad.com/blog/2012/08/arctic-storm-part-1.html

Start following this closely, things are about to get real, real quick.

[emmadoggy]

4. Egads.

Fucking hell, we are toast.