The sun hasn’t shone on Cape Morris Jesup since October 11. These should be among the coldest weeks of the year for the cape. But over the weekend, the weather station there recorded an air temperature of 43 degrees Fahrenheit, more than 50 degrees above normal for this time of year.

The weird warmth was not limited to that one spot. Station Nord, a scientific research station in Greenland nearly 200 miles to the southeast, recorded temperatures of about 36.5 degrees Fahrenheit this weekend.

These kinds of on-the-ground observations aren’t available for the North Pole. But by combing satellite observations and other temperature data, the top U.S. forecast model estimated that temperatures at the North Pole rose as high as 35 degrees Fahrenheit, according to The Washington Post.

This isn’t the only oddity in the Arctic right now. Every year, the Arctic Ocean goes through a two-part seasonal cycle. From late September to early March, its surface hardens into a huge solid mass, creating a vast ice sheet that stretches from Newfoundland to Siberia. Then, from late March to early September, much of that sea ice melts, and much less of the ocean surface is ice-covered.

At this time of year, sea ice should still be growing and expanding. But recent satellite observations have shown that two large gaps have somehow opened up in the ice. The first is in the Chukchi Sea, near Russia. The second, pictured below, is just north of Cape Morris Jesup in Greenland. The blue gaps are open water:

Arctic Sea Ice, From February 20 to February 25, 2018

These two gaps mean that sea-ice formation has stagnated more than a month early. And even before this current warmth, it has been a dismal year for Arctic sea ice. The Arctic Ocean is on track to set a new record this year for the smallest extent of winter sea ice ever recorded. This would be the fourth straight year that the Arctic sets a new wintertime sea-ice record low.

How rare is this kind of Arctic warmth? Climate scientists say they have seen events similar to this one happen before, but that the size and intensity of the warmth made it really notable.

“There are other cases in the reanalysis record with greater than 20 degree Celsius departures” from normal temperatures, said Zachary Labe, a sea-ice researcher at the University of California at Irvine, in an email. “However, it does appear this particular event featured one of the largest departures on record.”

The anomalous Arctic warmth comes just as Western Europe deals with record-breaking cold. A cold front dubbed “the beast from the East” has moved in from Russia to occupy much of Europe. Several inches of snow fell on Rome and London on Monday. And temperatures in Italy are about 30 degrees Fahrenheit below normal.