no extreme cold warning for ottawa despite frostbite-level temperatures
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runners make their way along a path by the rideau canal in early january.
ashley fraser
/
postmedia
the temperature in ottawa will plunge to -21 c monday night, bringing with it a risk of frostbite, but not cold enough to trigger an extreme cold weather warning from the city.
the mass of arctic air blanketing much of eastern north america arrived as expected sunday, though the temperature in ottawa remained a few degrees above what was predicted, said peter kimball, a warning preparedness meteorologist with environment canada.
“we accurately predicted the cold weather would hit sunday, with the coldest day hitting monday into tuesday and ending wednesday, and that’s pretty much what we’re getting,” kimball said monday. “the difference is maybe the overnight lows were a couple of degrees warmer than we thought they would be.”
but spare a thought for those frozen souls just to the north of us.
“we saw a report of -47 c in northern quebec this morning and the -30s were not far away,” he said.
north bay, 300 kilometres up the ottawa valley, saw temperatures dip to -28 c monday morning. in sudbury, ont., it was -29 c and in val d’or, que., it was -36 c.
“we’re in the same air mass, but just not quite so cold,” kimball said.
an extreme cold weather warning from environment canada for arnprior, renfrew and the ottawa valley was lifted at 10:30 a.m. on jan. 20 while in ottawa, the daytime high hovered around -16 c in dazzling sunshine.
the “arctic blast” that forced the inauguration ceremony for u.s. president donald trump indoors for the first time in 40 years made for a balmy -5 c day in the u.s. capital.
ottawa’s predicted low monday was a far cry from the record -33.3 c recorded in 1920. on jan. 20, 2024, the high was -10 c and the low -17 c.
while ottawa felt frigid on monday, the forecast did not meet the sustained threshold to activate the city’s cold weather plan. that’s triggered when environment canada issues an extreme cold warning or when there is a sustained wind chill of -35. that plan opens up access to warm indoor spaces for the homeless and eases access to programming and services.
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monday night’s forecast calls for a windchill of -28.
tuesday’s high is expected to be -12 c with an even colder overnight low tuesday of -23 c. then the cold eases, with the high reaching -12 c on wednesday, -7 c on thursday and -5 c on friday and saturday.
the cold is good news for skaters. the full length of the rideau canal skateway opened on the weekend for the first time since 2021, although saturday’s mini-thaw and rain made a mess of the ice surface. the canal was swept and flooded sunday night, but skating conditions remained just “fair” on monday. crews will be out again monday night to work to improve the surface.
kimball predicts “a bit of a roller-coaster ride” with temperatures into next week, with more cold air on the way.
“we haven’t seen the end of the cold air and we could be into another deep freeze by the end of next week,” he said.
as for snow? snowfall continues to be below normal this winter for the second season in a row. the patchy dusting on the ground this season contrasts with the record 44 centimetres of snow cover the city had in 1978.
“there’s lots of snow if you happen to live beside georgian bay, but as for us, here in ottawa, i’m not seeing snow at all,” kimball said.
“there’s a possible system next monday, but that’s still a week away and a lot of things can change.”
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