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Snow-covered area in February across the western United States was 13 percent below average, at 822,000 square kilometers (317,000 square miles) of snow cover, ranking sixteenth highest in the 25-year satellite record (Table 1). Snow-covered area for February was about half of the area of the record high year, 2023, and 264,000 square kilometers (102,000 square miles) more than February 2003, the lowest year on record.

Arctic sea ice growth was slow in February, leaving extent at record-low levels for the end of the month. In the Antarctic, the annual minimum in extent is imminent, and near a record low.

A new study focuses on improving global temperature data sets in light of uneven warming across the globe. To fill gaps in historical climate records, the study relies in part on sea ice data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration program at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NOAA@NSIDC).

A new review paper, led by NSIDC senior research scientist Julienne Stroeve and published in Science on February 6, 2025, highlights the changes that will occur in the Arctic by 2100 because of global warming, and their far-reaching implications.

Arctic daily sea ice extent continued to hover near record daily lows in January, with the ice edge well northward of its long-term average position in most areas. In contrast to the cold conditions dominating the contiguous United States, much of the Arctic experienced above-average January temperatures. In the Antarctic, daily sea ice extent fell below the long-term average after a brief period of above-average daily extents, ending the month just above the lowest 25 percent of ice extents for the day.

Surface melting for the Antarctic ice sheet appears to have set a record for the 46-year satellite observation period on January 2, 2025. All areas of the Antarctic coast that generally see significant summertime melting continue to accumulate melt days at a faster-than-average pace, except along the northern West Antarctic ice shelves, which are now near-average.