Polar orbiting satellites captured spectacular clear sky views of the southern Beaufort Sea and adjacent land areas Monday morning July 6. It is very unusual in summer to have clear skies over so much of this region at the same time, as low clouds and fog dominate over the ice pack. Obviously, sea ice covers virtually the entire Beaufort Sea, though some areas of lower concentration ice are visible north and northeast of Tuktoyaktuk, NWT. Among the many interesting features to be seen in this image is what looks to be water from the Mackenzie River discharging on top of the still intact sea ice in the western delta (the brown silty color and the distinct northwest edge are the tell-tale signs here).
NOAA-21 Truecolor image taken at 1044am AKDT Monday. July 6, 2026 with notable features highlighted. Image courtesy UAF/GINA.
As of July 5 in NSIDC analysis, only 0.3 percent of the Beaufort Sea had open water. In the EUMETSAT OSI SAF analysis, only 0.1 percent of the Beaufort was open water. Only four years in the satellite era, all prior 2001, had higher ice extent in Beaufort, i.e. there was no open water at all.
Sea ice is also largely solid in the Chukchi Sea north of 70ºN latitude. While ice extent in the Chukchi is high for the 21st century, 2024 had actually had slightly higher extent in early July.