Arctic air to bring dangerous wind chills Saturday
The weather in Atlantic Canada is often described as being like a rollercoaster, and that will certainly be the case over the next 48 hours.
The big story remains the bone-chilling temperatures and bitter wind chills forecast Saturday, but some locations will also experience whiteout conditions during this event.
I’ll detail the precipitation outlook in a moment.
Temperatures that will, in some cases, be near or above freezing Friday morning will plummet in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick Friday afternoon through Friday night, with the airmass advancing eastward across Newfoundland Friday night into Saturday morning.
The latest guidance is projecting temperatures early Saturday morning will range -32 C to -23 C across the Maritimes and western Labrador, with the coldest temperatures in New Brunswick and western Labrador, but some spots likely below -30 C in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.
Wind chill values will range -35 to -45 C, with some models indicating a few spots could see wind chills below -45 C.
Temperatures will climb on Saturday but remain well into the minus teens and minus 20s, with sustained winds 30 to 50 km/h gusting 50 to 80 km/h, allowing biting wind chills to continue.
Newfoundland will also experience this cold, but not to the same extent. Temperatures will fall into the minus teens for eastern Newfoundland on Saturday morning and drop a bit more throughout the day, with minus teens and low minus 20s in central and western regions. Wind chill values will be below –20 C, and a few spots over western Newfoundland below –30 C.
It’s important to remember that wind chills between -28 and -39 C can lead to frostbite on exposed skin in 10 to 30 minutes, and wind chills of -40 to -47 can cause skin to freeze in five to 10 minutes.
Of course, the cold isn’t the only thing we have to contend with this weekend.
A cold front crossing leading this airmass is carrying bands of snow and rain showers for the Maritimes this morning. The front and an offshore system will bring more widespread snow into Newfoundland, which will mix with rain on the south and east coasts.
In general, this activity is producing two to 10 cm of snow, but amounts of 10 to 20-plus cm are possible in southern and western Newfoundland.
Then, the cold air, coupled with strong west-to-northwest winds, will generate sea-effect flurries off westfacing coastlines Friday night through Saturday, easing into Sunday.
This could bring an additional 15 to 25-plus cm of snow to western Cape Breton, with five to 15-plus cm for eastern Cape Breton and western Newfoundland, with two to 10 cm for communities near the Northumberland Strait and Bay of Fundy.
It’s important to remember that snow squalls can be incredibly localized, and whiteout or blizzard conditions can occur in these bands, especially with the setup this weekend. Driving will likely be hazardous in some locations.
The good news is that temperatures will moderate through Sunday and Monday, so this cold snap will be shortlived.
I have read the comments that this is winter in Canada and that we shouldn’t expect anything less.
But this is the coldest air so far this season, for some in many years, and could break records, with dangerous wind chills to an extent not always experienced when it gets cold.
The risk of frostbite and hypothermia is why this cold should be taken seriously.