A deep winter chill that has seized Central and Eastern Canada maintained its tight grip on Monday, with frost bite alerts and windchill warnings in effect across four provinces.
Windchill warnings persisted across Ontario, Quebec and into Eastern Canada, threatening the regions with bitter temperatures plummeting below - 40 Celsius.
Ottawa was on day three of a frost bite alert Monday, as residents woke up to a cold that felt like -38 C with the windchill. The city's public health officials warned that exposed skin can freeze in as little as 10 minutes in such cold temperatures. The cold snap will continue Monday night when the windchill makes it feel like -40.
The cold led to power outages in parts of Ottawa and the Seaway Valley, as well as burst pipes in some downtown buildings.
In Quebec, temperatures across the province ranged from -38 C to -48 C with the wind factored in, leaving Hydro Quebec to ask customers to reduce their energy consumption during peak morning and evening periods on Monday and Tuesday. The agency said Monday that it had set a new consumption record of 38,200 MW before 8 a.m.
"We're facing a cold snap, and when we have several consecutive days of very cold weather these are ideal conditions for peak demand to reach historic levels in this case," Hydro-Québec spokesperson Ariane Connor told The Canadian Press.
Temperatures across northern New Brunswick were similarly frigid, with warnings in effect for Monday night calling for windchill factors of -35 to -38. In parts of Newfoundland and Labrador, Environment Canada warned of windchill factors hitting -46 overnight Monday and into Tuesday.
Parts of Newfoundland were also under snowfall, blizzard and storm surge warnings for Monday night and into Tuesday, with a low-pressure system expected to dump between 10 and 20 cm over the region. Drivers are being warned that high winds, including coastal gusts topping 120 kilometres per hour, will lead to zero visibility on many roads.
The frosty weather leaked into Manitoba as well, with the afternoon high in Winnipeg hitting -14 C, with the windchill dragging it to -25 C.
Geoff Coulson, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, said it was important to keep skin protected from the elements, especially bitter winds.
"What the wind is doing is scouring the heat from the body. One of the big safety things we talk about with windchill is to make sure you have a good tuque on covering the ears to keep the heat in," Coulson told CTV.ca on Monday.
"The extremities can tend to be affected by the cold rather quickly as the body brings the temperature back to the core. If you don't have those mitts and gloves your fingers can get cold rather quickly."
The long-term forecast promises some reprieve later in the week. Cities across Central and Eastern Canada are expecting weather no colder than -10 C, in most cases.
