The refreeze has come to a near standstill. Even using the trailing 5 day mean since Dec 28th, the increase has been the lowest on record at just a 78.4k, well below the next lowest of 139.2.k in 1983. Even the increase from the 27th to now is lowest on record, albeit by a smaller margin. The pause with the 1 day extent is even more impressive, with no increase in extent since December 25th.
If we continue with this rate of increase, we'll be ranked as lowest on record on record in 5 days.
At this time of year, the central Arctic regions are mostly frozen over and the majority of coverage increases (both extent and area) come from the peripheral Arctic regions mainly the Bering Sea and Sea of Okhotsk, but also to a lesser extent the Baffin Sea.
Unfortunately, looking at the 850hPa temperature anomalies, there appears to persistently strong positive temperatures anomalies right across the Pacific sector regions (Okhotsk and Bering) for the foreseeable future, with some -ve anomalies over the Baffin Sea. This should keep extent and area growth well below average.
Below is the 850hPa temp anomalies across the northern hemisphere for the next 5 days, note the positive anomalies across the Pacific side.
We'll most likely be 3rd lowest on tomorrows update, but where will we be by next weekend?