Cold warning issued for Toronto

CP24’s meteorologist Bill Coulter provides an update on weather conditions after Toronto and parts of the GTA.

A cold warning has been issued for Toronto ahead of what could be the coldest night of the season.

Environment Canada issued the yellow-level alert Thursday morning for the city and surrounding areas, warning that frostbite can develop “within minutes” on exposed skin amid brutally-cold wind chill values.

“Watch for colour changes on fingers and toes, pain, numbness, a tingling sensation, or swelling. If present, move indoors and begin warming,” the national weather agency said.

Thursday’s forecast is calling for a high -10 C, far below the seasonal norm of -2 C, amid a mix of sun and clouds. The mercury will drop even further later tonight, when the low is expected to reach -25 C, which CP24 Meteorologist Bill Coulter said will feel like -32 with the wind chill.

“January continues to deliver all those old-fashioned winter feels. So much cold and snow. And now we need to prepare for more bitter and even dangerous wind chills ahead,” CP24 Meteorologist Bill Coulter said.

According to Coulter, the previous coldest day of the season in Toronto was on Jan. 23, when the wind chill value dropped to -28.

“But, we haven’t yet dipped into the -30s,” he said.

Coulter said there won’t be a lot of additional snow falling over the Greater Toronto Area this week after a record snowstorm last weekend.

The deep freeze will continue overnight and into Friday, with a daytime high of -11 C and a wind chill of -30.

Coulter said the weekend will be bright and cold, with mostly sunny conditions in the forecast. But, daytimes highs will remain a bit below normal with a high of -9 C on Saturday and -7 C on Sunday.

‘Relentless’ cold to continue

Dave Phillips, a climatologist with Environment Canada, said this evening’s temperature low could set a record at Toronto Pearson International Airport.

The coldest Jan. 29 recorded at Pearson was in 1952, when the temperature dropped to -23 C.

“This is the coldest moment of this winter,” Phillips told CP24 on Thursday afternoon. “This winter has been cold. (It) started in November, December, and here we are in January. We can’t shake it.”

Meanwhile, downtown Toronto saw the coldest Jan. 29 on record in 1873, when it recorded -27 C.

“We have gone 11 days without seeing a melting temperature,” Phillips said. The last time Toronto saw a daytime high above 0 C was on Jan. 17.

Unfortunately, temperatures will remain below freezing for the next seven days.

“The duration wears you down. We’re clearly living through frigid fatigue. It just absolutely is relentless,” Phillips said.

What’s behind the cold

He explained that the reason behind the cold snap is a “high-pressure area” over northern Ontario and Manitoba.

“It’s huge, massive. And it’s just taking all this cold air and rushing it down. And cold air is thick like molasses. It hugs the ground. It fills all the nooks and crannies. You can’t kick it out. It takes a lot of a weather change to move it away,” Phillips said.

“So, we’re in this for the long haul, and I think people are getting a little testy about it.”

City activates additional warming centre

City staff said there will be eight warming centres in operation tonight, with the opening of a new temporary site at 150 Sherbourne St. at 5 p.m.

Fifty additional shelter spaces are also being added to the city’s existing sites, bringing the total number of available spaces to 615 during the inclement weather.

“Our street outreach teams continue to work around the clock, conducting wellness checks, encouraging people indoors, and distributing essential supplies like blankets, warm clothing and sleeping bags,” the city said in a tweet.

Warming centre locations can be found here.