Three hundred miles above the Arctic Circle is America’s northern most snow observatory, typically the last place in the nation to see its snow melt. As of today, its snow has melted, setting a new (and terrible) record.
NOAA’s Barrow Observatory just confirmed that they’d recorded a snowmelt date of May 13, 2016. It’s the earliest recorded snowmelt ever seen in the Arctic Circle observatory—and researchers stationed there are, unsurprisingly, pretty spooked.
“It’s like a train wreck you can’t look away from,” biologist George Divoky said in a statement. Divoky has been observing arctic birds in the area—and he has already began noting changes in their available food supply.
It’s not just snow either. The quick snowmelt is combined with some equally quick sea-ice melt. The combination of the two has USGS research biologist David Douglas saying that it already looks like summer has arrived.
“It looks like late June or early July right now,” he said, before noting that he had already begun to see polar bears treading carefully to avoid the thinly-iced areas.
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I am Jeff Clark, founder of Internet Brothers, producer of this blog, and passionate about hiking. I live in Western NC near the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains. Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests are just out my door, so the content will focus on these areas, but let me know what you would like to see on the site. 
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