Previous posts showed 2022 Arctic Ice broke the 15M km2 ceiling in February, staying above that level the first week of March, then followed by typical melting in March. As the chart below shows, mid March the overall ice extent was ~400k km2 below the 16 year average, before returning to the mean day 89 and tracking the average since then.

Note the much higher ice extents in 2022 compared to 2021 or 2007.  The green lines show that the above normal ice this year is despite low extents in Sea of Okhotsk.  The averages in dark green (excluding Okhotsk) are below 2022 in light green (excluding Okhotsk) by nearly 200k km2.  IOW everywhere in the Arctic except Okhotsk ice extents are well above average.  Remember also that Okhotsk basin is outside the Arctic circle, has no Polar bears, and is among the first to melt out every spring.

The table below shows ice extents in the seas comprising the Arctic, comparing 2022 day 102 with the same day average over the last 16 years and with 2021.

Region	2022102	Day 102 Average	2022-Ave.	2021102	2022-2021
(0) Northern_Hemisphere	14276734	14220846	55888	13625046	651688
(1) Beaufort_Sea	1070776	1069263	1513	1070689	87
(2) Chukchi_Sea	966006	963080	2926	966006	0
(3) East_Siberian_Sea	1087137	1085847	1290	1087137	0
(4) Laptev_Sea	897845	895064	2781	897827	18
(5) Kara_Sea	935023	922556	12467	900979	34045
(6) Barents_Sea	708728	615602	93126	349338	359390
(7) Greenland_Sea	646204	655532	-9329	671290	-25086
(8) Baffin_Bay_Gulf_of_St._Lawrence	1281551	1286670	-5119	1132374	149177
(9) Canadian_Archipelago	854685	852712	1973	854597	88
(10) Hudson_Bay	1260903	1246035	14868	1249891	11012
(11) Central_Arctic	3238576	3230459	8117	3167541	71035
(12) Bering_Sea	765331	658850	106481	545689	219642
(13) Baltic_Sea	51751	47121	4630	21897	29854
(14) Sea_of_Okhotsk	506073	685897	-179824	704441	-198368

The table shows that 2022 ice extent is slightly above average and exceeding 2021 by 652k km2 at this date. Surpluses are sizeable in Bering and Barents, more than offsetting the major Okhotsk deficit. All other regions are showing as typically frozen basins.