It’s official! City breaks record for coldest Jan. 5 in its history as temperature plunges to -23 C
While some people have gone into hibernation, others braved the cold as Toronto experienced the coldest Jan. 5 in city history.
The old record low of -20.6 C, set in 1959, was broken on Friday morning when temperatures hit -23 C. The current wave of frigid temperatures prompted Environment Canada to issue a province-wide extreme cold warning Thursday.
The weather agency is forecasting mainly sunny skies over the course of the week, but the temperature will climb — it seems wrong to use the word, somehow — to a high of -16 C over the next few days. It will feel more like -36 C with the wind chill. We are way off seasonal norms; the average daytime high for Toronto this time of the year is -1.6 C, while the average low is -9.8 C.
Environment Canada is advising people who will be outdoors to cover up due to the risk of frostbite developing within minutes on exposed skin.
Torontonians are tapping all resources to stay warm; Kathy Hammond, @Katastrophes took to Twitter to share her way of coping with the cold.
“It’s damn cold in Toronto today. Bundled under covers with all three dogs lying on me,” she said.
Some folks took a devil-may-care approach; swaddled in sleeping bags, parkas and scarves, three young women huddled in the frigid cold outside the Air Canada Centre early on Friday afternoon, waiting for The Killers concert later on. The cold was no match for their obsession with the band’s lead singer.
The cold poses an existential threat to Toronto’s homeless. Following outrage from advocates calling for armouries to be opened for the homeless last week, the federal government approved the city of Toronto’s request to open Moss Park armoury as a 24-hour respite centre for two weeks.
The city has opened two new 24/7 warming centres at Metro Hall and Regent Park Community Centre. They will remain open until the extreme cold weather ends.
The public is being asked to check on family and friends who might be vulnerable to the frigid temperatures.
On Thursday, Halton Police said a 78-year-old woman who went missing was spotted by Canadian National Railway workers. She was stuck in a snow bank and was rescued by first-responders who arrived at the scene.
TTC spokesperson Stuart Green said about 40 streetcars went out of service due to weather-related issues on Friday. About 50 buses were then dispatched to get commuters to where they were headed.
Temperatures are expected to dip to -25 C overnight going into Saturday. The first weekend of 2018 will start with mainly sunny skies with a high of only -17 C, which will feel more like -37 C with the wind chill. The cold snap is expected to end on Sunday, which is forecast to see a high of -7 C. Then comes the snow. There is a 70-per-cent chance of snow Sunday evening, Environment Canada predicts.
Temperatures will rise to near freezing next week, with 0 C forecast for Monday.
Relative normality will return, when temperatures are expected to be about -3 C from Tuesday to Thursday. With files from David Rider, Alanna Rizza and Annie Arnone