Extreme cold prompts central Alberta school and bus closures

Due to extreme cold, Wolf Creek Public Schools are closed and all buses are cancelled for Monday.

The central Alberta district based in Ponoka announced the closures Sunday, as a polar vortex brought bone-chilling temperatures to the province this weekend.

Students who usually ride buses to Elk Island Public Schools (EIPS) will also be getting a snow day. The district cancelled all morning, noon and afternoon bus service for Monday. All EIPS schools will remain open Monday for students who can brave the cold weather and classes will continue as scheduled.  

Most of the province was under extreme cold warnings as of Sunday.

In Edmonton, temperatures were -26 C on Sunday evening but an alert posted earlier in the day warned of extremely cold wind chill values between -40 and -55. The temperature was expected to increase to -23 C on Monday.

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In Calgary, temperatures were forecast to increase slightly to -24 C Monday from -28 C on Sunday night.  

The Calgary Board of Education is planning for all schools to be open this week, but will post an update if things change.

The cold snap is forecast to persist throughout the week and into next weekend for many parts of Alberta.