Too Early Minimum Ice Proclamation?

I was a bit surprised yesterday when I saw NSIDC has declared the minimum Arctic sea ice extent for this year. The extent remained constant for a few days before increasing slightly over the following few days, so I am pretty sure they are right. However, I still have a very small amount of lingering doubt. There are some indications the extent may still be decreasing. In any event, the minimum this year will be in the range of the third or fourth smallest extent ever measured. It was not as bad as the 2012 catastrophic break-up, but in some ways, it was even worse.

I'm going to continue to monitor the extent for a few days and will be making a detailed posting on the subject once I'm convinced it has truly reached a minimum.