Relief in sight from extreme cold in Manitoba

For anyone looking for a break from the frigid Manitoba cold, you may have to wait another few days.

Environment and Climate Change Canada’s (ECCC) extreme cold warnings remain in place for much of Manitoba on Tuesday, which say that the cold is here to stay for another few days. 

According to the warnings, northern Manitoba should expect wind chills near -45 and -50 on Tuesday, while in southern Manitoba the wind chill values will reach around -40. These wind chills are result of cold temperatures combined with winds.

Terri Lang, a meteorologist with ECCC, said when the cold air settles in, it can be hard to get rid of, but some relief is expected by the weekend.

"Friday morning, probably being the coldest at the morning, but after that, we'll see some southerly winds kick in, and we know what that means, that means warmer air coming in," said Lang.

Lang notes it will warm up a bit on Wednesday, which may bring the extreme cold warning to an end for a short time, but she expects that warning to return.

"You may see it lifted because there's a little system rippling through…we tend to get a little bit of a bump in temperature with it. So you may see those warnings dropped and then reissued, once the system moves through and the colder air moves back in again."

Lang said before this cold snap, the month of January was looking like it would be one of the warmer Januarys on record, but that has since changed with the cold coming in.

Lang warns Manitobans that everyone is at risk from extreme cold.

"When we do have these extreme cold warnings, those are dangerous wind chills. Your flesh can freeze in less than five minutes and hypothermia can set in pretty quickly."

She urges people to bundle up and wear plenty of layers and also notes people should keep their extremities covered if they are outside for any period of time.

ECCC also warns people to watch for cold-related symptoms, including shortness of breath, chest pain, muscle pain and weakness, and numbness and colour change in your fingers or toes. Pets should also be kept safe.

The cold weather can also impact people's homes. The city said since Jan. 27, there were two frozen property owner service calls and 15 internal frozen plumbing calls.

When to comes to dealing with vehicles, CAA Manitoba said it responded to 1,281 calls on Monday, with 977 happening in Winnipeg. Sixty-five per cent of those calls were battery related.

Normally, CAA Manitoba receives an average of 350 calls per day.