Deep freeze descends on southern half of Manitoba with extreme cold warnings
Wind chills of –40 or lower expected in some places across southern part of province
Extreme cold warnings have enveloped much of southern Manitoba with the arrival of a bitterly cold arctic air mass that has already shuddered through Alberta and Saskatchewan.
The warnings are now in place as far north as Grand Rapids near the northern part of Lake Winnipeg and all the way south to the international border.
And the bitterly cold temperatures are expected to continue through the rest of 2021, Environment Canada said in an alert Wednesday morning.
Temperatures are expected to dip more than 10 degrees Celsius below seasonal averages across southern Manitoba.
Overnight lows dropping into the –30s along with light winds are also anticipated to bring wind chill values of –40 or lower at times across the region, the weather agency said.
Even the daytime highs will be very cold, with wind chill values near or lower than –30 in many places — which will make frostbite within minutes a persistent risk.
The dangerous cold will hang around into the weekend, but more seasonal winter temperatures should return to the region early next week.
In Winnipeg, the high for Wednesday is forecast to be –26 C with a wind chill of –42. The temperature will continue a downward slide into Thursday with –31 C in the afternoon and a wind chill of –44, according to Environment Canada.
The normal daytime high for this time of year is –13 C but Winnipeg won't see that for some time. Even when things ease up a bit by early next week, the highs are still expected to be around –18 C or –19 C.
Outdoor safety
If you need to go outside during the bitter cold, dress warmly by wearing layers that you can remove if you get too warm, Environment Canada says, adding the outer layer should be wind resistant.
The weather agency also urged people to watch for cold-related symptoms, like shortness of breath, chest pain, muscle pain and weakness, numbness and colour change in fingers and toes.
Outdoor workers should take regular breaks to warm up, and pets shouldn't be left outdoors if it's too cold for their owners to stay out themselves, Environment Canada said.
The cold weather has also led to long wait times of around an hour for service from CAA Manitoba, which averaged 98 calls an hour Wednesday morning.
About 40 per cent of those calls were battery-related.
The company is prioritizing calls from people stranded on the side of the road before it gets to people whose cars are stuck at home, a spokesperson said.