In May, most of the Arctic ocean basins are still frozen over, while the melting of ice extent is underway in the marginal regions.   During the last 30 days, on average according to MASIE, Arctic ice extents lose 1.4M km2. The few basins where open water appears this time of year tend to fluctuate and alternate waxing and waning.

The graph below shows the mid April to mid May patterns for ice extents on average, this year and some other years of note.

 

The graph shows the 18-year average loss for April is 1.4M km2.  2024 started this period with a slight deficit and ended 136k km2 above average.  SII showed higher throughout, and much greater extents in May (still awaiting the number for Day 136). Other recent years have been nearly average, while 2006 ended with a large defict of ~400k km2.

Region	2024136	Day 136 Ave	2024-Ave.	2006136	2024-2006
(0) Northern_Hemisphere	12740271	12604358	135913	12157814	582457
(1) Beaufort_Sea	1059379	1045092	14287	1066139	-6760
(2) Chukchi_Sea	962124	924541	37582	956734	5389
(3) East_Siberian_Sea	1081877	1081548	330	1074876	7001
(4) Laptev_Sea	892100	879228	12872	889990	2109
(5) Kara_Sea	875173	876506	-1333	839569	35603
(6) Barents_Sea	562240	406857	155382	182554	379686
(7) Greenland_Sea	666605	613812	52793	519337	147268
(8) Baffin_Bay_Gulf_of_St._Lawrence	984569	1059633	-75065	892335	92234
(9) Canadian_Archipelago	838357	841188	-2831	828806	9550
(10) Hudson_Bay	1117021	1177260	-60239	1071342	45679
(11) Central_Arctic	3216321	3225072	-8750	3169225	47096
(12) Bering_Sea	370480	285787	84693	478464	-107984
(13) Baltic_Sea	14356	5552	8804	15239	-883
(14) Sea_of_Okhotsk	98529	179953	-81424	168615	-70086

The table shows regional ice extents in km2.  Note that Hudson and Baffin Bays have started melting, and Hudson will likely go to open water in a few weeks. Sea of Okhotsk on the Pacific side is down 81k, offset by a similar surplus  in Bering sea. Note the huge surplus in Barents sea on the European side. Everywhere else is mostly in surplus, especially the seas of Barents, Greenland and Bering.  2006 had 582k km2 less ice extent than 2024 (more than half a Wadham).

The polar bears had a Valentine Day’s wish for Arctic Ice.

And Arctic Ice loves them back, returning every year so the bears can roam and hunt for seals.

Footnote:

Seesaw accurately describes Arctic ice in another sense:  The ice we see now is not the same ice we saw previously.  It is better to think of the Arctic as an ice blender than as an ice cap, explained in the post The Great Arctic Ice Exchange.