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Environment Canada has issued yet another cold weather alert for southern Ontario as another rapid fall in temperature is expected this weekend — and one Great Lake appears to be almost completely frozen over.
The weather agency said a “prolonged period of very cold wind chills” is expected starting Friday night into Saturday morning, and may return again Saturday night into Sunday morning.
For Toronto, wind chill is expected to drop to as low as -30.
Farther north towards Barrie, cottage country and east towards Peterborough could see temperatures from -30 to -35 with the wind chill.
According to Global News meteorologist Ross Hull, Friday marked the 20th straight day of below-freezing temperatures in Toronto.
That’s the longest cold stretch recorded in 11 years — since late January, February and early March of 2015, when there were 32 straight days of temperatures below freezing.
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“The reason for the cold stretch is a disruption in the jet stream to our west over the Pacific,” Hull said.
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“Parts of Western Canada have been basking in above-average temperatures because of a ridging pattern there, whereas much of Eastern Canada, including the Great Lakes, have been in the deep freeze.”
Hull said this pattern shift allows for some of the coldest air over the Arctic regions of Canada to descend farther south — and it’s been locked in for the last few weeks.
Meanwhile, the deep freeze has also contributed to the Great Lakes ice buildup.
Hull said Lake Erie is almost at 100 per cent ice coverage for the first time since the late ’90s.
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Lake Erie is the shallowest and narrowest of all the Great Lakes, which makes water there freeze more quickly as it loses heat more effectively.
It doesn’t look like relief from below-zero temperatures is on the way until mid-next week.
Hull said temperatures may nudge just above freezing by Wednesday but notes the “price to pay” may be some mixed precipitation with freezing rain as a system moves in.
Lake Erie headed for 100% ice coverage, for the first time this century. https://t.co/KPHZ4u85Sh
— Anthony Farnell (@AnthonyFarnell) February 5, 2026
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