Extreme cold warning ends after deep freeze grips Manitoba for days
Schools closed, buses cancelled, pipes burst, but temperature has risen above –30 C
Keep your head up, Manitoba — you've earned bragging rights for another year.
As January ends, Manitobans are coming out of the extreme cold that has gripped the province for much of the week; a warning from Environment Canada that's been in place since Tuesday evening was lifted just after noon on Thursday.
"Wind chill values of –40 to –50 will gradually ease through the morning across southern Manitoba," Environment Canada forecast in the extreme cold alert on Thursday morning.
Of course, that doesn't mean it's actually warm in the province where people like to brag about how bad the weather gets — it was still –25 C and the wind chill was –40 at noon in Winnipeg.
After the temperature at Winnipeg's airport remained below –30 all day Wednesday — far colder than the average high of –11 C — that –25 C didn't seem so bad.
In Churchill, the town 1,000 kilometres north of Winnipeg that calls itself the polar bear capital, it was –37 C with a wind chill of –48 at noon, but that's not cold enough for a warning in northern Manitoba.
Schools remained closed in rural areas of the province on Thursday, and Winnipeg school divisions took the rare step of cancelling buses because many were no longer running well after days of punishing cold.
On Wednesday, a water pipe burst from the cold at the city's downtown public library, and people who care for the homeless were working hard to help them stay safe.
For information about school closures and bus cancellations, check the CBC Manitoba Storm Centre.
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