Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba remained mired in a deep freeze Wednesday, with temperatures dipping as far down as -50 Celsius with the wind chill, but warmer weather is expected by the weekend.
Environment Canada issued wind chill warnings for much of the Prairie provinces, calling for "extreme wind chill values" to continue overnight Wednesday and into Thursday.
"Cold Arctic air has just plunged down and filled every nook and cranny out west," Dave Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment Canada, told CTV News Channel.
"We're seeing wind chills of -50 C in some places. I mean that will freeze flesh in a matter of minutes."
The Environment Canada warnings said the temperatures are the result of cold air mixed with westerly winds blowing up to 30 kilometres per hour.
There was a wind chill of -42 in Edmonton Wednesday, and homeless shelters were taking in anyone that needed a place to sleep.
In Saskatchewan temperatures were predicted to drop to -49 C in some parts of the province Wednesday. Regina and Saskatoon were expected to see temperatures drop to -44 C Wednesday night.
In Manitoba, a wind-chill factor of -40 C is expected to hit Winnipeg Wednesday night, with a low of -41 C on Thursday.
However, the cold temperatures that have plagued the Prairies since the weekend won't last. Phillips said Calgary is expected to see above-zero temperatures by the weekend with the rest of the region also expected to follow suit.
"By Sunday or Monday on the Prairies it will be balmy compared to what it has been over the last couple of days, still below freezing but well above normal," he said.
Environment Canada forecasts that a low-pressure system will bring warmer temperatures, in addition to a bit of snow to some areas.
Even B.C. has been subject to the cold temperatures, with Arctic air making its way to the coast and colliding with Pacific winds, resulting in snowfall, Phillips said.
The agency issued wind chill warnings for parts of the B.C. interior on Wednesday, with northerly winds expected to push temperatures to as low as -45 C in the region.
"Really from Vancouver to the Great Lakes we've seen very cold temperatures," he said, noting that there were weather warnings in place across the country on Tuesday for everything from Arctic outflows to freezing rain and flash freezes.
In Toronto, temperatures hit a record high of 10 C on Tuesday, then dropped to zero by nightfall.
Phillips said the city has only had 12 centimetres of snow so far this winter, compared to the typical average of 60 centimetres by mid-January.
"We've had only eight what we call 'freezing days' where the temperature in the afternoon stayed below freezing," he said, noting that much of Atlantic Canada has seen similar weather patterns.
"You can't build a skating rink here in eastern Canada because you get one day of cold weather and then you're back to the warm weather," he said, describing Tuesday's cold snap as a "one-off."
