Thanks to Ron Clutz for pointing out the MASIE data goes back to 2006 now.
And for pointing out that MASIE for 2016 is running pretty high compared to NSIDC.
This is MASIE from 2006 to 2016. Strange that MASIE has fallen in last 2 days and NSIDC has jumped.
sunshine hours 
Yes, the daily fluctuations I guess are due to the difficulty of measuring anything in the Arctic. NSIDC says in addition that QC on satellite microwave data takes several days, and is another reason why NOAA results could be lagging behind MASIE. At the moment, with the major basins totally frozen, the dynamic parts are the other seas, esp. Kara and Barents.
Yes Ron, but we hope it doesn’t get any colder.