Wind chill warnings have been lifted for areas around Montreal but remain in effect across much of Quebec, where record-setting temperatures have been felt in a number of communities.

Environment Canada maintained wind chill warnings for much of southern Quebec but around noon lifted similar warnings for most areas bordering the United States. Those areas, however, continue to experience wind chill that makes it feel like –30 C.

Extreme wind chills are expected to persist overnight and into Saturday morning in Eastern Quebec and the Saguenay.

Temperatures are expected to slowly rise over Saturday and reach seasonal averages on Sunday.

Thursday saw temperatures varying between lows of –28 C and –42 C. The wind chill made the temperature feel as cold as –52 C in some parts of the province.

The cold set new records in a number of communities across Quebec: In Temiscaming, a low of –34.2 C broke the previous record of –30.6 C set in 1922. A low of –39 C in Roberval broke the old record of –36.1 C set in 1974. In Quebec City, a cold weather record set in 1968 fell to yesterday’s low of –33.9 C. Baie-Comeau also set a new cold weather record with a low of –37 C.

Other communities that experienced record lows included Val d'Or, Chibougamau, Bagotville, Parent, Mont-Joli, Gaspé and Sept-Iles.

Hydro-Québec repeated its public appeal to reduce consumption during peak hours Friday, from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and again from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Hydro customers across the province continued to experience brief outages as demands reached near historic levels.

Almost 5,000 customers were without power as of 9 a.m. Friday, including more than 2,000 in Montreal, 1,600 in Monteregie and more than 1,000 in Cote-Nord.