Cold, cold, extreme cold all across Manitoba

Manitoba has been wrapped in an icy blanket of extreme cold.

There's going to be a lot of strong language that begins with the alphabet's sixth letter today. It's the first truly cuttingly cold day this winter for most people in the province (those in the far north, however, are on Day 5 of extreme wind chills).

We've been spoiled by a milder-than-usual winter to this point, so Friday's frigid temperatures will hit hard.

Wind chill values near –40 will be felt across much of southern Manitoba, with –45 to –50 over northern Manitoba. That means exposed skin could freeze within 10 minutes in the south and close to five minutes up north.

Things improve slightly on Saturday as cloud builds in from the west in the afternoon. The morning temperature, however, will be around –30 C with a wind chill close to –40.

Winnipeg forecast for Friday

• Sunny and cold, high –23 C.
• Wind chill of –35 throughout the day.
• Wind northwest 15 km/h in morning.
• Northwest wind 20-30 km/h in afternoon.
• TONIGHT clear and cold.
• Overnight low –29 C.
• Wind chill –39.

Normal temperatures for this time of year are a daytime high of –9 C and overnight low of –19 C.

John Sauder's weather journal for Feb. 12