I, for one, am glad that the snow depth forecast graphic was posted and, if Vargent hadn't done it, I was going to do it myself. While Vargent points out the large Pacific snow melt out what struck me was that Scandinavia was modeled to be snow free in 10 days and that the land areas around Kara that have 3 to 4 feet of snow was going to see significant melt as well. Finally, on the Kara Sea itself there was going to be significant snow melt as well that would likely cause the infamous melt ponds.
But to magnamentis' point, I don't have enough context on this melt. Yes, it's May and it should be expected to have the snow melt. But the degree of melt within the next 10 days seems rather large but is there enough institutional knowledge here to understand if this is well beyond standard melt?
Further, if it is a large melt, what does a significant in rush of 33 degree F water do to the melt of sea ice in the Kara or the Laptev? More questions than answers but to see Alaska, except the North Slope, be predicted to be essentially snow free and to see the same in Scandinavia by mid-May seems like a fairly big deal. But is there a website that can put this melt in context?