Articles | Volume 5, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-1473-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-1473-2024
Research article
 | 
04 Dec 2024
Research article |  | 04 Dec 2024

Concurrent Bering Sea and Labrador Sea ice melt extremes in March 2023: a confluence of meteorological events aligned with stratosphere–troposphere interactions

Thomas J. Ballinger, Kent Moore, Qinghua Ding, Amy H. Butler, James E. Overland, Richard L. Thoman, Ian Baxter, Zhe Li, and Edward Hanna

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Cited articles

AghaKouchak, A., Chiang, F., Huning, L. S., Love, C. A., Mallakpour, I., Mazdiyasni, O., Moftakhari, H., Papalexiou, S. M., Ragno, E., and Sadegh, M.: Climate Extremes and Compound Hazards in a Warming World, Ann. Rev. Earth Pl. Sc., 48, 519–548, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-earth-071719-055228, 2020. 
Bailey, H., Hubbard, A., Klein, E. S., Mustonen, K.-R., Akers, P. D., Marttila, H., and Welker, J. M.: Arctic sea-ice loss fuels extreme European snowfall, Nat. Geosci., 14, 283–288, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-021-00719-y, 2021. 
Ballinger, T. J., Hanna, E., Hall, R. J., Cropper, T. E., Miller, J., Ribergaard, M. H., Overland, J. E., and Høyer, J. L.: Anomalous blocking over Greenland preceded the 2013 extreme early melt of local sea ice, Ann. Glaciol., 59, 181–190, https://https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2017.30, 2018. 
Ballinger, T. J., Walsh, J. E., Alexeev, V. A., Bieniek, P. A., and McLeod, J. T.: The Alaska Blocking Index, version 2: Analysis and covariability with statewide and large-scale climate from 1948–2020, Int. J. Climatol., 42, 9767–9787, https://https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.7864, 2022. 
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Short summary
This study chronicles the meteorological conditions that led to the anomalous, tandem March 2023 ice melt event in the Labrador and Bering seas. A sudden stratospheric warming event initiated the development of an anticyclonic circulation pattern over the Greenland–Labrador region, while the La Niña background state supported ridging conditions over Alaska, both of which aided northward transport of warm, moist air and drove the concurrent sea ice melt extremes.