The map above is centered on Asia and shows the Arctic icecap (right at about the seasonal minimum) and snow cover. You can see some snow in the Himalaya Mountains and you can see some snow starting to accumulate in Siberia (eastern Russia). I watch the buildup of snow in Siberia in early fall as there is often (not always) a correlation (without causation?) between early snowcover in Siberia (end of October) and the severity of the coming winter in both eastern Asia and North America.

At the moment, Arctic ice extent is near the 10-year average. YOu can see in late summer it dipped below the recent low extent record set in 2012. Back in early July, it was higher than the 10-year average, so it does wobble back and forth.

This was sunset in Wales, Alaska on the northwest coast. Daylight shrinks at a rapid rate in Arctic in September. At Wales, they are currently losing 6 minutes and 51 seconds of daylight each day.