Livecams over at explore.org have confirmed a key indicator that the ice has returned–WH polar bears have begun their winter trek back onto the bay..

2019 is now the THIRD year in a row where the refreezing of Western Hudson Bay (WH) ice has arrived earlier than the 1980s average date of November 16, as reported by polarbearscience.com.
Western Hudson Bay polar bears in great shape after five good sea ice seasons polarbearscience / by susanjcrockford Polar bear researcher Andrew Derocher says it takes four years of good sea ice conditions to recruit a polar bear from birth but implies that 2019 is the first year in decades that conditions for bears have been ‘good’ in Western Hudson Bay. Sea ice levels are currently well below normal and recent temperatures are well above normal. With plenty of ice still remaining over the bay, spring breakup will be no earlier this year than it has been since 1999.

This ice information is updated daily in areas of known marine activity.

Posted on May 8, 2020 | . Ice concentration map: last 10 days. Build producer car loading facility at The Pas. July 23, 2019 - “Jim Carr, ... , Coast Guard/ice-breaker, tug service problems must be addressed Increase cost-competitive fertilizer imports through Churchill Complete dust-free, primary road corridor through Manitoba / Saskatchewan to The Pas. Sea ice more than 1.2m thick over Hudson Bay portends a good year for polar bears. JAXA - Arc2.png (53.68 kB, 616x444 - viewed 5934 times.)

The conditions look better for sea ice this week, but it takes sustained cold to make polar bear habitat. By June 19th, open water became more expansive within Hudson Bay, and the sea ice extent dropped to 1.00 million square kilometers. Independent study needed to help verify Churchill route savings. "While Arctic sea ice is inherently variable, 2019 in Hudson Bay is an oddity. Open water formation in May is not unusual in Hudson Bay, and overall the May monthly sea ice extent in Hudson Bay of 1.23 million square kilometers was more extensive than the 1981–2010 climatological mean of 1.22 million square kilometers.
The lack of intense cold has effectively stalled freeze-up. In remaining Canadian waters, ice information is updated weekly from the regional charts which are issued at the end of the day every Wednesday. This animation combines the latest ice information available from Canadian Ice Service charts. _____ With luck this laptop will be operational today so NSIDC Area & Extent can be looked at to see from whence all these sea ice gains are coming. Very cold in Hudson Bay - extreme sea ice gains there contributing to the extreme sea ice gains over the last 5 days? JAXA - Arc4.png (47.64 kB, … Sea Ice Trends and Climatologies from SMMR and SSM/I-SSMIS Data from Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Sensors Monthly time-series plots of ice-covered area, area anomalies, ice extent, and extent anomalies for both the NASA Team and Bootstrap algorithms for Hudson Bay. From Polar Bear Science.