From Alberta to the Maritimes, Canada faces a wind-chilled deep freeze this weekend
CBC
"Cold" might be a bit of an understatement when it comes to what much of Canada will be facing this weekend — unless you’re in balmy southwest British Columbia, where cherry blossoms are blooming early in some Metro Vancouver neighbourhoods.
Unfortunately, for the rest of us, cold weather warnings have been issued from Prince Edward Island all the way west to eastern Alberta — and it’s going to get worse before it gets better.
Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) says temperatures in some parts of the Prairies could feel like –55 C with wind chill, as an Arctic airmass firmly establishes itself over the region.
A polar vortex is behind this cold snap, ECCC meteorologist Trudy Kidd told CBC Toronto.
“It’s a swirling pool of cold air that’s typically parked over the Arctic. And at times, it weakens," Kidd said. When it weakens, Arctic air can travel down south.
The cold snap is expected to last through the weekend in most areas, with parts of southern Ontario also sitting in the eye of a snowstorm that could bring 20-30 centimetres of snow on Sunday.
Here's a region-by-region breakdown of how cold it'll be, and the effects the deep freeze is already having.
In eastern Alberta, wind chill values of –40 C to –45 C are expected to persist through the weekend, according to ECCC, before temperatures begin to warm a little.
Orange alerts cover all of Saskatchewan and Manitoba and parts of northwestern Ontario due to the cold, with wind chill values ranging from –45 to –50 C.
"Wind chill values may improve slightly during daytime hours but are expected to drop back below –40 each night for the next several nights," the ECCC stated in its warnings for Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
On Friday, the cold prompted several school or bus service cancellations in Manitoba for the second consecutive day.
It’s also made emergency response operations a lot harder in Winnipeg. Fire crews have been dealing with frozen equipment and quick-freezing water, along with the biting wind.
Even some winter recreation activities are being paused. The ski trails at Winnipeg’s Windsor Park Nordic Centre have had to close until Monday as well.
Northwestern Ontario's orange weather warning range from Fort Severn to the Ignace and Fort Francis areas. The region could feel as cold as –48 C overnight, ECCC says.
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