Environment Canada says the Windsor and Chatham areas will likely break a modern day cold snap record by the weekend.
An extreme cold warning has been issued for Chatham-Kent and Windsor-Essex because it's expected to reach -30 C with the windchill Thursday night and Friday night. Geoff Coulson says no day between Christmas day and Thursday has been warmer than -5 C and with the extreme cold predicted until Saturday, it will be 13 days in a row below -5 C.
Coulson says we are in uncharted territory.
"Every once in a while there is an intrusion of Arctic air that can affect not just Ontario but a good chunk of North America. When these Arctic outbreaks occur, they can be very difficult to move. That cold air becomes entrenched and it's difficult to get out of there," says Coulson.
He says the last time we felt this cold for this long was 1982 and 1979 when both years had 12 day stretches of extreme cold. Coulson also expects the Chatham and Windsor areas will get close to or break record lows on Thursday night and Friday night.
The local health unit is also reminding people to cover up because extreme cold puts everyone at risk for hypothermia and frostbite.
Coulson says we turn cold again next week but not the extreme cold we have been getting since Christmas.
"Daytime highs next week by Wednesday and Thursday will be more like -5 C or -6 C. Still colder than our normal high of -1 C for this time of year but not the same depth of cold that we're going to have for the next few days," Coulson says.
He says we get a bit of a break from this extreme cold on Sunday and Monday but then snow comes in on Monday.
"Maybe even a general snowfall on Monday from a system going south of Lake Erie could give us five to 10 cm or even a bit more. So, we'll have to keep an eye on that system," says Coulson.
