It looks like the Arctic sea ice extent has started its decline

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Average maximum date has been 11 March, but this year the maximum was on 5 March. It doesn't mean it can't still expand in the next week or so with changes in wind direction, but if the extent from 5 March holds, that will make 2023 the 5th lowest extent in the satellite record.

https://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/sea-ice-tools/

It's also the second thinnest ice on record, just over the 2021 levels.

https://ocean.dmi.dk/arctic/icethickness/thk.uk.php

[OnlinePoker]

1. And, it has been confirmed (though, they say the 6th, not the 5th)

Arctic sea ice has likely reached its maximum extent for the year, at 14.62 million square kilometers (5.64 million square miles) on March 6. The 2023 maximum is the fifth lowest in the 45-year satellite record. NSIDC scientists will present a detailed analysis of the 2022 to 2023 winter sea ice conditions in the regular monthly post in early April.

On March 6, 2023, Arctic sea ice likely reached its maximum extent for the year, at 14.62 million square kilometers (5.64 million square miles), the fifth lowest extent in the satellite record. This year’s maximum extent is 1.03 million square kilometers (398,000 square miles) below the 1981 to 2010 average maximum of 15.65 million square kilometers (6.04 million square miles) and 210,000 square kilometers (81,000 square miles) above the lowest maximum of 14.41 million square kilometers (5.56 million square miles) set on March 7, 2017.

The date of the maximum this year, March 6, was six days earlier than the 1981 to 2010 average date of March 12.

https://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/