sea ice · Arctic
Bering Sea
March maximum sea-ice extent
Modelled demonstration series · not observed data
Winter ice here is a working surface: it is how coastal communities travel and hunt, and it is the wall that stops winter storms reaching the shoreline. Without it, villages that have stood for generations start losing metres of coast per year, and several are now formally planning relocation.
75 years, modelled
Same reading, two normals
| Normal | Mean | σ | Pct | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1951–1980 | 0.85 million km² | −3.60σ | 0.016th | 1 in 6,300 years |
| 1991–2020 | 0.56 million km² | −1.13σ | 13th | 1 in 7.8 years |
Today would rank 4 of 76 for lowest value in the modelled series. Nothing about the reading changes between rows — only the yardstick.
The season here
Bering ice normally peaks in March. It is seasonal ice — it forms and vanishes every year — which makes it very sensitive to small changes.
Where this series comes from
MODELLED SERIES — not observed. Parameters set from published Bering Sea March maximum extent climatology. The 75 annual values are synthesised by the seeded generator.
Every number on this page comes from a modelled series: 75 annual values synthesised by a seeded generator from published climatological parameters for Bering Sea. It shows how anomaly reasoning works. It is not a measurement and must not be cited as one.
How to read σ
σ counts standard deviations from this place's own normal. The sigma guide · return periods.
More sea ice stations
Open Bering Sea on the field →