A rush of Arctic air will disrupt the weather pattern across North America starting this weekend, plunging Eastern Canada into some deep cold.
Global News meteorologist Anthony Farnell said the chilly temperatures, caused by a polar vortex spinning across Canada, will “overwhelm” and will start this weekend and carry into next week.
Temperatures are already plummeting across the Prairies, Farnell added, with a blizzard warning issued for Winnipeg. Temperatures this weekend will stay in the -20 Cs, with wind chills near -40 or lower for Saskatoon, Regina and Winnipeg.
“These frigid temperatures shift south and east behind a cold front that will bring some rain or wet snow on Saturday to southern Ontario and Quebec, with rain changing to snow by Sunday night in the Maritimes,” he said.
“The polar vortex will spin across northeast Canada, but a lobe of frigid air from Siberia will swing south on the western side of this vortex and bring the coldest daytime highs we’ve seen in two or three years for many cities across southern Ontario.”
On its website, Environment Canada said Canadians living in those regions should be prepared for “very cold” conditions between Sunday and Wednesday.
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“Temperatures may be colder than those that have been seen the last several years,” the federal weather agency said.
“Remember frostbite can develop in minutes on exposed skin. Keep dry to stay warmer.”
Temperatures will be coldest on Monday and Tuesday before slowly moderating later next week, Farnell said. Daytime highs will remain in the double digits below zero, and wind chills could be as low as -40 to -45 across northern Ontario and Quebec.
Farnell said it will feel closer to -30 C across the southern parts of those provinces, along with Atlantic Canada.
“The cold conditions will extend unusually far south, with significant snow and ice threatening U.S. states near the Gulf Coast from Texas to the Florida Panhandle,” he said.
“Below freezing air could also impact the Florida citrus crops early next week.”
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s Monday inauguration in Washington D.C. will be the coldest in 40 years, Farnell added, with wind chills in the minus teens. In fact, Trump’s inauguration will now be held indoors — a first since Ronald Reagan’s second inauguration inside the U.S. Capitol in 1985.
Temperatures will begin to warm up towards the end of next week, Farnell said, albeit briefly as computer models are hinting at a return to frigid conditions near the end of January.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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