Skin freezing temperatures in Rankin Inlet close schools
'I don't remember the last time we actually closed due to weather. This is a bit of an extreme'
Temperatures in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, are feeling below –60 C — well under the average for February — and have caused the community's schools to close down.
"I don't remember the last time we actually closed due to weather. This is a bit of an extreme," said Mike Osmond, chair of the Rankin Inlet District Education Authority.
Osmond said for the past two days, the schools have "erred on the side of caution for the kids."
Temperatures are getting to –40 C before the windchill and when the winds are factored in, it feels colder than –60 C.
"You've got blustery winds with some of the coldest temperatures that people have ever experienced," said David Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment Canada, adding that his charts say skin freezes in two minutes at –55 C.
"My eyes open up when I see a windchill of –50 C, and to have windchill of –60 C, and quite likely before [today] is out, we'll see windchill of –65 C or –68 C."
These conditions are about 13 to 15 degrees colder than what it should be, he said, blaming the polar vortex — a combination of cold air with a strong weather system.
Hunters warned to stay home
The situation has a well-known elder in Arviat advising hunters to not go out hunting.
Rhoda Karetak said in the past people had to search for food to survive and it was hard.
"I remember back in the 1940s, we were out camping in the wintertime and camp stove fuel almost froze. At that time the temperature went down to –60 C. We used to work even without mittens at times," she said in Inuktitut.
However, Karetak said now that people can go to the grocery store, they don't have to risk their lives hunting in extreme temperatures. She wanted to speak out after she heard a man was rescued recently from out on the land.
"Unlike the old days, we don't always wear caribou or sealskin clothing these days when we go out hunting."
December through January is the coldest time of the year, and Karetak says she advises people to relax indoors, to try to keep themselves busy, and wait for spring.
With files from Eva Michael