Arctic Sea Ice Extent Minimum 2013 may have occurred on Sept 12 (Day 255). I say “may have occurred” because there is a chance of more ice melt. The last 3 days have seen very small increases.
On Sept 12 (day 255) Arctic Sea Ice Extent was 5.07146 million sq km.
As of Sept 15 (day 258) Arctic Sea Ice Extent was 5.11953 million sq km.
If the minimum stays at day 255, it would be the 7th lowest minimum in the satellite record. The record was 3.36973 million sq km set in 2012. Which would make 2013’s minimum 1.7 million sq km’s higher.
sunshine hours 
For Comparison
NIC shows another, smaller, increase yesterday, so it’s looking like the minimum was reached on Sept. 14 in the NIC estimates.
Arctic Min Date >8/10ths Marg Zone M.sq Km
14/09/2013 4.84 0.67 5.51
21/09/2012 3.28 0.92 4.20
20/09/2011 4.30 0.97 5.27
22/09/2010 4.75 0.91 5.66
21/09/2009 4.58 1.27 5.84
23/09/2008 4.16 0.77 4.93
A remarkable recovery, especially in the packed ice extent and the early date.
It is interesting to consider the annual loss of ice extent from March Max to September Min. Using the NIC data, the average difference Max-Min over the last seven years is 10.69 M Sq. Km.
But this mean hides a dumbell distribution. There are 3 high years (2007, 2008, 2012), all over 11 M averaging 11.40 M extent loss. The other 4 (including 2013) are all more than 1M lower in extent loss, averaging 10.15 M for the yearly Max-Min.
It seems normal in recent years for the Arctic to fluctuate more than 1M up and down in ice extent loss. And since the Max only varies slightly, it’s due to differences in the summer melt. Natural variability, anyone?