Cold snap to keep northwestern Ontario temperatures low for several days

People in northwestern Ontario will need to stay bundled up for several days yet.

The cold snap that hit the region in the last few days is expected to linger for about another week, keeping temperatures well below normal, said Trudy Kidd, meteorologist with Environment Canada.

"This time of year for Thunder Bay, for example, we usually have high temperatures around –5 degrees (C)," Kidd said. "And looking at the week ahead, we're actually in the double digits, so –12, –15, so it is quite a bit colder than usual."

Kidd said overnight lows, meanwhile, are generally around –17 in the city for this time of year, whereas for most of next week, they'll also be about 10 degrees colder than normal.

"This is definitely a cold snap," Kidd said.

Environment Canada had actually issued cold weather warnings for some parts of the region on Tuesday. The affected areas included Kenora, Fort Frances, Dryden, Sioux Lookout, Atikokan and Ignace.

The weather agency said wind chills were due to hit about –40 C in those areas Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning.

Kidd said long-term forecasts show temperatures heading back to normal values about mid-next week.

"But as we know, things can change, so it's always important for people to stay up to date on the latest forecasts and alerts," she said.

Advice on car idling

Meanwhile, cold temperatures often lead to people idling their vehicles in the morning. But the co-ordinator of motive power trades — which includes the automotive service technician, heavy duty equipment technician, and truck and coach technical apprenticeship programs — said that isn't generally needed.

"I don't think idling for any extended period of time is a great benefit," Phillip Bailey said. "As long as the windshield is clear and you can see to drive, you're better off to drive at a moderate speed and let the vehicle warm up completely, like the actual transmission differentials and such.

"Sitting there letting it idle just has a tendency to warm up the engine, and newer vehicles with GDI, gasoline direct injection, tend to contaminate the crankcase with gasoline vapour, that gets past the piston rings."

As for plugging vehicles in, Bailey said that's only needed an hour to an hour-and-a-half before driving, as opposed to leaving it plugged in all night; plugging in vehicles when the temperature drops to about –18 C is a good idea, Bailey said.

"Other than a little bit of cost for the electricity, it's beneficial to the engine as far as starting is concerned," Bailey said. "It starts much easier, and it's less stress on the oil pump and gets lubricating oil to most of the components much quicker when it's a little bit warmer."

Things like battery blankets and oil pan heaters also help, he said.

Bailey drives a Ford Lightning electric truck.

"I'm getting to my third winter now for it. What they say with electric vehicles is ABC: always be charging.

"Preconditions the battery to help maintain the battery state of charge in cold weather, and it uses the AC power from your charging station to preheat the cabin of the vehicle," Bailey said. "It doesn't stretch the batteries as much."

"You lose about 25 to 30 per cent of your range in cold weather like this. At least I do."