Record-breaking chills for central Alberta and Saskatchewan

Residents of central Alberta and Saskatchewan woke to a chilly reminder that winter hasn't been over for very long, as the mercury plunged to record-breaking lows this morning.

A frigid arctic air-mass has settled down over all of Alberta and Saskatchewan overnight, making for an uncomfortably-cold morning across the prairies, and even bringing record-setting lows to some areas.

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So far, Environment Canada is reporting that Edmonton City Centre, the city of Lacombe, AB and the town of Rosetown, SK all broke 65-year temperature records. Edmonton got down to -14.8°C, breaking the previous record of -13.9 degrees, Lacombe reached -17.9 degrees, just squeaking by the last record low of -17.8, and Rosetown dropped to -17.4, beating out -16.7 as the town's old record, all set in 1948. Joining them are the towns of Meadow Lake, SK and Wynyard, SK, who broke 1997 records by getting down to -21.6 and -20.8 degrees, respectively, and Watrous, SK who broke the 2002 record low of -15.0°C by getting down to -17.7 degrees.

The 'biggest' record breaker in the region was Edmonton International Airport, where the temperature dropped to -20.0°C, shattering the old record of -16.4°C from 2002.

Southern Manitoba has mostly been spared this arctic chill for today, but as this air-mass pushes further south and east, temperatures there are expected to drop to around -20 degrees by tomorrow morning, possibly setting some records there too. As for Alberta and Saskatchewan, the cold weather is expected to last at least a few more days as this air-mass works its way east.

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These record lows and generally frigid temperatures across the prairies are a strong contrast to the more mild temperatures favouring the rest of the country, but Ontario and Quebec should expect colder weather towards the weekend as this arctic chill heads their way.

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