Deep freeze hits Ottawa, wind chill drops below -40
Deep freeze hits Ottawa, wind chill drops below -40
Extreme cold temperatures will continue to grip Ottawa and eastern Ontario Friday night and Saturday morning, with the wind chill making it feel colder than -40.
An extreme cold warning remains in effect for Ottawa, as a blast of cold Arctic air hovers over the region. Temperatures dropped to -27 C on Friday morning, with the wind chill making it feel more like -41.
"Gusty winds will continue to produce very cold wind chills throughout the day and into Saturday morning," Environment Canada said in a statement.
"Extreme cold puts everyone at risk."
The forecast calls for temperatures to drop to -31 C Friday night, with the wind chill making it feel like -43 degrees. The weather is cold enough to cause frostbite on exposed skin in minutes, Environment Canada says.
The extreme cold temperatures forced the cancellation of all outdoor activities on the opening day of Winterlude, while several ski and skating attractions closed on Friday due to the weather.
"It's the old bones but when you're all dressed up you can cope with it," Colette Viau said on Friday.
"I like winter," William Potts-Haplin said. "I used to do more sports and everything, you can slide around a whole lot more but as you get older and you have to dress like this just to take the compost out and such it gets a little tiring that way."
The CAA says it was a busy day.
"We normally get around 500 calls for the entire day; we did that by noon today," CAA assistant operations manager Hassan Al-Khairalla said. "So on Code Red Days, we expect about triple to quadruple that volume."
The CAA recommends getting your battery tested to ensure it can handle the cold temperatures.
"Every three to five years you should probably want to change your battery, that's how long they last," Al-Khairalla said.
The cold snap will be short-lived. Saturday will still be very cold, with a wind chill near -40 in the morning and a high of -14 C in the afternoon. Environment Canada says Ottawa will see 5 cm of snow on Saturday night.
But Sunday will see the temperature skyrocket to 1 C. There is also a 70 per cent chance of snow on Sunday.
Tips to prevent frostbite
Ottawa Public Health offers the following tips to prevent frostbite during the extreme cold temperatures.
Get to a warm area before frostbite sets in. If it's too cold outside, consider staying indoors.
Keep extra mittens and gloves in the car, house or school bag.
Wear larger sized mittens over your gloves.
Wear a hat.
Wear a neck warmer to protect the chin, lips and cheeks.
Wear waterproof winter boots with room for an extra layer of socks.
Make sure you are able to wiggle your toes in your boots.
The parents of young Ontario hockey player Ben Teague have been searching for answers since he died while at a team retreat in 2019. The mystery about what happened and the code of silence in hockey culture is explored in CTV W5's 'What Happened to Ben,' on CTVNews.ca and W5's official YouTube channel.
In an effort to keep the foreign interference story at the forefront, and to do an apparent endrun around the Liberal filibuster blocking one study from going ahead, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is forcing MPs to debate and then vote on a motion instructing an opposition-dominated House committee to strike its own review.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's calls for protests ahead of his anticipated indictment in New York have generated mostly muted reactions from supporters, with even some of his most ardent loyalists dismissing the idea as a waste of time or a law enforcement trap.
Officials are still looking for victims after a fire ripped through a building in Old Montreal last week, killing at least one person. At a press conference Monday morning, spokespersons for the Montreal police and Montreal fire department said six people are still missing. They come from various locations in Quebec, Ontario and the U.S.
Bargain hunters are one step closer to seeing sales at Nordstrom's closing Canadian locations. At a hearing at Osgoode Hall in Toronto on Monday, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice gave the U.S. retailer's Canadian branch permission to start liquidating its merchandise.
Some of the world's largest central banks came together on Sunday to stop a banking crisis from spreading as Swiss authorities persuaded UBS Group AG to buy rival Credit Suisse Group AG in a historic deal.
Quebec provincial police (SQ) announced Monday morning that a third person has died in connection with the tragedy in Amqui, in the Lower St. Lawrence region, where a driver drove his pickup truck into pedestrians a week ago.
The University of Prince Edward Island Faculty Association says its staff has gone on strike after what it says are failed attempts to enter additional negotiations with the university's administration.
The student union president at Cape Breton University said food insecurity has become a concern for many students and the on-campus food bank cannot keep up with demand.
Ontario employers who withhold foreign workers’ passports or work permits could face steeper penalties under new labour laws, with maximum fines setting them back up to $200,000.
Officials are still looking for victims after a fire ripped through a building in Old Montreal last week, killing at least one person. At a press conference Monday morning, spokespersons for the Montreal police and Montreal fire department said six people are still missing. They come from various locations in Quebec, Ontario and the U.S.
Quebec provincial police (SQ) announced Monday morning that a third person has died in connection with the tragedy in Amqui, in the Lower St. Lawrence region, where a driver drove his pickup truck into pedestrians a week ago.
A 46-year-old has been taken to hospital with serious, life-threatening injuries after a single-vehicle crash on MR80 near Donaldson Crescent in Val Caron.
Lane restrictions are now in place on Wellington Street as construction gets underway on Phase 1 of the Wellington Gateway and Municipal Infrastructure Improvements project.
The first day of spring in the London region will be a beautiful one. The daytime high is forecast to be 6 C, slightly warmer than the average high for this time of year.
An Ontario woman has launched a lawsuit seeking $500,000 from Tim Hortons after she suffered major burns from an alleged ‘superheated’ tea. The company has denied all allegations and said she was ‘the author of her own misfortune.'
A community is in mourning after a 10-year-old girl was killed earlier this week when flames tore through her family’s camping trailer southeast of Brantford.
Waterloo regional police say they arrested nine people for impaired driving over the course of nine hours between 6:30 p.m. on St. Patrick’s Day and 3:30 a.m. on March 18.
The Town of Strathmore and Siksika Nation hosted the first Lead By Example Powwow this weekend in honour of a young Indigenous man who was shot to death four years ago.
Autopsies confirmed gunshot wounds as the cause of death for two constables responding to a domestic dispute Thursday, the Edmonton Police Service says.
Autopsies confirmed gunshot wounds as the cause of death for two constables responding to a domestic dispute Thursday, the Edmonton Police Service says.
Vancouver firefighters were called to the Downtown Eastside Sunday evening after a fire destroyed multiple tents in an encampment and spread to a building near Main and East Hastings streets.
An Ontario woman has launched a lawsuit seeking $500,000 from Tim Hortons after she suffered major burns from an alleged ‘superheated’ tea. The company has denied all allegations and said she was ‘the author of her own misfortune.'
An international student was swarmed and beaten by a group of people who ripped off his turban and dragged him across the sidewalk by his hair in Kelowna, B.C., Friday evening, according to a local politician.
Some residents of Saskatchewan's capital city have been vocal with their disapproval of Tourism Regina's latest rebrand, prompting an apology from the organization.
