A short-lived 'punch in the face' cold snap is coming for Eastern Canada

The beginning of February is expected to bring Arctic-like temperatures across much of Eastern Canada, thanks to frigid air from the polar vortex.

"I think it will be a real punch in the face for easterners," Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips told CTVNews.ca. "It's going to be pretty short-lived and it's going to be right across the east."

The cold snap will descend on Eastern Canada between Thursday night and Friday, with temperatures becoming seasonable again on Sunday. In between, much of Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada can expect the coldest days yet this winter.

"We'll see temperatures that are really, brutally cold," Phillips said from Toronto. "It's really a one-and-a-half-day wonder."

According to Environment Canada, as the cold air tracks east, daytime highs will only reach -13 C in Toronto, -20 in Ottawa, -21 in Montreal and -23 in Quebec City on Friday, and -18 in Fredericton, -15 in Halifax, and -18 in Charlottetown on Saturday.

"It'll be sunny and bright, because it's Arctic air," Philips said. "It's very dry, and it will be crisp"

Overnight temperatures on Friday night could dip as low as -20 in Toronto, -31 in Ottawa, -30 in Montreal, -34 in Quebec City, -28 in Fredericton, -21 in Halifax, and -23 in Charlottetown – all more or less double what's normal for this time of year.

"The last time it was that cold in Ottawa was 27 years ago," Phillips explained. "You can go year after year after year and not see a temperature of -20 in Halifax."

These temperatures do not factor in wind chill, which could make things feel even icier.

"It's going to be very punishing," Phillips said. "It's clearly an Arctic invasion of frigid air."

The short-lived and bitter winter blast is being blamed on a weakened polar vortex, which causes icy Arctic air to push south, leading to rapid and sharp temperature drops.

There is a silver lining for those who have been missing out on winter activities.

"The second half of winter, according to our models, seems certainly a little colder, more winter-like, than what we saw at the beginning of the winter," Phillips said. "But everywhere in Canada, we're now well the beyond the halfway point. There's more winter behind us than ahead of us!"

While much of Western Canada has been shivering through the winter, it's been a different story in the unseasonably mild east. Phillips says December and January in Ottawa, for example, were the third warmest on record in 150 years; and both Ottawa and Montreal have experienced no days below -20 this winter, when normally they would each have about 10. Ottawa's Rideau Canal Skateway is also still closed when it typically opens in January. Warmer winter temperatures, however, have also brought abundant snow.

"If you're in the east, it's looking like winter, but it doesn't feel like winter," Phillips said. "But it's going to feel like winter when the cold arrives."