According to the long term weather forecast a enormous high pressure system with 1035 hPa will establish over the arctic basin in the end of next week. http://www.weatherbellmodels.com/weather/ecmwf/2012081700/arctic/ecm_mslp_arctic_11.png This is, as I said, a long term weather forecast and therefore not necessarily very likely to happen, at least not in exactly the same way as predicted. But I still wonder what impact a high pressure system like this would have on the sea ice if it remained in such a posission for the last days of August.