Thanks Wipneus,
Reading Neven, Wanderer, Lars... yes, there's nothing even remotely close to the impact of invading warmth in mid Feb since at least '97.
I checked 11-15 Feb anomaly on NCEP/NCAR on that. It seems to be related to the latest SSW flash, the split cold poles on 500Mb and the SLP pattern. There is no extreme cold on 850Mb over the Arctic Basin, allowing the concentrated influx of warmth from the S to get to a mean +8C anomaly over the whole 7.3 Mkm2 Basin.
I'll check Ascat metop again to find out if the 'Barentsz Bite', that has remained visible all winter, is showing signs of weakening. Wipneus' animation does...
Lars, that Atlantic water is at work on a constant basis. I think it allows the Barentsz Sea to perform 'Atlantic' for at least the latest 10 years. It progressively strengthens the ice-free zone N of Svalbard (prolonged near surface flow of the West Spitzbergen current). The present temp anomaly is an atmospheric phenomenon though.