A blast of wintry weather is expected to hit eastern Canada next week, as temperatures are expected to dip more than 10 degrees below zero.
Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips says the polar air is expected to arrive in Manitoba on Monday, and make its way to Ontario on Tuesday.
“By Thursday of next week, it will have engulfed Atlantic Canada,” Phillips told CTV News Channel.
The freezing temperatures are expected to be slightly milder than temperatures experienced in the first weeks of January, however.
“It may not quite be as intense as it was, but hey, what’s the difference -- instead of highs of -17 C in Toronto, we say highs of -14 C.”
Phillips says the cold snap, which Environment Canada predicts will last until the end of January, is only expected to blanket eastern Canada.
“In British Columbia, in Alberta, and even to Saskatchewan, it’s going to be basking in the sunlight, and the east is going to be freezing in the dark,” Phillips said. "We might see a little back and forth, a yo-yo kind of weather, but our models are saying right to the end of January, cold in the east and mild in the west.”
But there’s good news for easterners, Phillips said.
“It’s the midpoint of winter, where there’s more winter behind you than ahead of you. So if you’ve survived it to date, one more week to go, and then we can say we’re on the upswing.”
