Extreme cold warnings stretched into Saturday
Another weekend in the Ottawa area will start under an extreme cold warning, the third local set of these warnings since Jan. 10.
Some of these started Thursday and they've grown to cover the entire region except for the Pembroke area. There is a warning for more easterly parts of Renfrew County, such as the town of Renfrew.
The wind chill in most places Friday night and Saturday morning could make it feel as cold as -40.
Ottawa's overnight low is -28 C and in Cornwall and Maniwaki, it's -29 C.
The Kingston area is expected to feel a few degrees warmer than that, with the wind expected to make it feel like –30 at its coldest overnight.
The Pembroke area has a similar forecast to Kingston — but because warning criteria can vary from place to place, it's not under a warning.
Temperatures this low mean people should cover as much exposed skin as they can, dress in layers — ideally a wind-resistant outer layer — and watch for cold-related health problems such as muscle pain, numb extremities and shortness of breath.
Ottawa's coldest day of the year
The -27.9 C recorded at the Ottawa airport at 8 a.m. Friday is its coldest temperature of the year so far.
The lowest temperature on record for Jan. 22 there is –31.1 C, which it's hit three times. The last time was in 1943.
Environment Canada's average temperature for Ottawa this January is –12.8C, similar to that month in 2019. In January 2021 that was –7.2 C and –6.4 C in 2020.
Ottawa's Saturday forecast predicts an end to its extreme cold warning in late morning on the way to a high of -14 C. Saturday night's low is -15 C and its Sunday high, -7 C.
