Wind chill warnings as Arctic cold grips Prairies

Prairie dwellers suffered through the third straight day of bone-chilling cold Monday, as Arctic air and extreme wind chill warnings gripped Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Environment Canada issued the warnings Monday, saying temperatures will be "bitterly cold." The projected high in Calgary on Monday is -32 C, but combined with the wind chill, other parts of the Prairies could have temperatures that feel as cold as -50 C.

Environment Canada warns that skin will freeze in less than five minutes in those conditions.

CTV's Bill Fortier reported that homeless shelters in Edmonton are full from people seeking refuge from the freezing temperatures. Edmontonians are used to temperatures below -30 C, but "even for us, this is pretty cold."

Monday's wind chill warnings include southern Saskatchewan and Manitoba and most of Alberta.

Southern Saskatchewan will see wind chill values of up to -45 C Monday and Tuesday. Saskatoon's temperature will be -30 C, but it will feel like -42 C with the wind chill, and rural Manitoba will experience similar conditions. The high temperature in Winnipeg Monday is expected to hit -23 C. With the wind chill, it will feel like -32 C.

Temperatures should stay this low until mid week. The arctic air mass that is bringing the deep freeze will move east.

Environment Canada meteorologist David Phillips told CTV News Channel that Edmonton was the second coldest place on earth Sunday. It was beaten only by a town in Siberia, where the temperature dropped to -48 C.

The mercury hit -46 C in Edmonton on Sunday night. With the wind chill it felt like -59 C.

"Even the North Pole was warmer than Edmonton," he said.

The sub-zero temperatures meant a cold night for more than 350 people in the city who spent 12 hours without power. Crews worked all night outside in the cold weather to repair an underground cable that had multiple technical failures.

"If you're going to be living in this kind of weather you certainly need to be prepared for it, you never know when a power failure or something like that is going to happen," Fortier said, explaining that people in the city are being told to have extra blankets on hand just in case of a power failure.

It was so cold in Yorkton, Sask. that firefighters trying to put out a house blaze found a fire hydrant frozen solid.

Phillips said the problem is Arctic air that brings cold weather down with it like a pipeline.

"This cold air comes down and even gets colder than where it originated and just fills all the nooks and crannies. It's like molasses; it's hard to get rid of it," Phillips said.

He said this weather is not related to climate change and is instead from an El Nino which happens normally every few years. Phillips said that the weather in Edmonton will soon completely reverse.

"The good news is that within two days, Edmonton, instead of being 30 degrees below normal, they're going to be nine degrees above normal," Phillips said. "They're going to get some Pacific air and will have melting temperatures."

"We think the rest of the winter will be this kind of back and forth kind of weather."

Southern British Columbia is being spared the arctic temperatures, but is instead getting a rare major winter storm which is set to hit the southern part of the province Monday, with up to 20 cm of snow expected to be on the ground by Tuesday.

B.C. isn't getting a total reprieve. Wind chill values will make it feel like -20 C along the north and central coasts.