Western and Northern Canada braces for chilly, snowy Christmas

A woman walks her dogs down a frost coated lane near Carstairs, Alta., Monday, Feb. 3, 2025. An extreme cold warning is hanging over Alberta as temperatures reached down to -44C in some northern parts of the province while hovering around -25C in the south. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Frigid temperatures across much of Western Canada include advisories warning parts of Alberta to prepare for a snowy Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

As much as 10 to 20 cm is expected to fall by Christmas morning in Central Alberta, and Environment Canada is asking drivers to consider adjusting travel plans to take into account road conditions.

• Hourly and 7-day forecast on the CTVNews.ca weather hub

Snowfall warnings were in place for multiple highways in British Columbia, with the advisory saying a frontal system approaching from Washington state will bring snow to southwestern B.C., intensifying later in the day on Christmas Eve.

It says there could be accumulations of up to 10 cm for the Fraser Canyon, and 10 to 15 cm along stretches of the Coquihalla Highway from Hope to Kamloops.

The snow advisories join cold warnings up for parts of Manitoba, as well as Alberta and Saskatchewan — where predictions are for wind chills in some spots between -45 and -50 C.

A few more temperature records fell in the Yukon, where it was -52.2 in Faro, breaking an old record of -43.5 set on the Dec. 23, 2022.

The extreme cold in the Yukon is expected to last through Christmas Eve, with wind chills in some spots hitting -45 to -55 C.

Derek Lee, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, said Tuesday that Arctic air has been building over the Yukon for the last week and a half.

“But that’s soon to change. We are looking to see some systems roll through Yukon in the next coming days and with that we’ll bring some moisture and cloud cover which will in turn help keep the temperatures a little bit higher than what we’re seeing now.”

Lee said cloud cover is in the forecast to sweep over the territory from north to south to help keep in some warmer air, but the cold in general isn’t going anywhere.

“Basically getting out of the negative 50s and maybe into the negative 35 to negative 40 range by the time we get in to the weekend.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 24, 2025