Toronto remains under extreme cold weather alert as city faces frigid week

Environment Canada is predicting an extremely cold week for Toronto with a low of – 20 C and a windchill value of – 29 in the forecast for Wednesday.

The city continued on Tuesday to be under an extreme cold weather alert that was issued by Toronto Public Health on Monday. Extreme cold weather alerts are typically issued when temperatures reach -15 C or colder, or the wind chill is -20 or colder.

Residents planning a night out on Boxing Day should bundle up as temperatures are expected to drop to a low of -17 C, with a wind chill of -25. 

Haizhen Sun, severe weather meteorologist for Environment Canada, based in Toronto, said Tuesday that a cold Arctic air mass is stationed over the entire province, bringing the extremely cold air.

The agency, however, has not issued an extreme cold weather warning for Toronto yet.

"Generally, there'll be very cold air, but on the good side, there isn't much snow on the way," she said.

"Cover up. Frosbite can develop within minutes. Stay warm."

Sun said the week ahead for Toronto will be quite cold with temperatures well below the freezing mark. Wednesday night, in particular, will be extremely cold and she said it's possible the agency will issue an extreme cold warning for the city that night. 

She said the agency is predicting a high of – 10 C on Wednesday, with a low of – 20 C, and a windchill value of around – 29. On Thursday, the high is forecast to be – 14 C with a low of – 19 C. On Friday, the high is expected to – 13 C, with a low of – 16 C.

On Saturday, the high is forecast to be – 13 C, with a low of – 16 C, and on Saturday, the high is expected to be – 10 C, with a low of – 16 C.

She said the windchill value has to be drop down to – 30 for the agency to issue an extreme cold warning for Toronto.

The city recommends that people heading out in the cold weather dress in layers, cover exposed skin and stay dry.

Snow cleanup mostly completed

Toronto received a significant amount of snow on Sunday evening ahead of Christmas on Monday.

In a tweet, the city said local road plowing was completed at about 10 p.m. on Monday night and local road salting was completed on Tuesday at about 5 a.m.

Cleanup was expected to continue on Tuesday on local roads until about 3 p.m.

On Monday, the city was under a special weather statement as the agency said brisk westerly winds were expected to cause blowing snow, with exposed areas being particularly vulnerable.