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There’s a frigid weekend forecast for the Ottawa Valley.
Environment Canada expects overnight lows around –30 C and wind chill around –40 on Friday and Saturday nights in places such as Ottawa, Gatineau, Que., and Pembroke, Ont.
Ottawa is looking at a prolonged temperature drop from around –2 C Thursday at noon, to –9 C at midnight, to –15 C at 8 a.m. Friday.
That’s expected to continue down to –27 C overnight with wind chill making it feel like –39.
Saturday’s forecasted high of –18 C is below the usual overnight low for late January. It could feel like –28 with the wind (the sun should at least be out).
Saturday night is forecast to be the coldest at –29 C for Ottawa and –31 C in Pembroke. There’s no wind chill forecast yet.
Sunday should have a similar daytime high as Saturday, but will not get much colder overnight. Daytime highs to start the workweek are around –10 C.
This weekend could bring Ottawa’s coldest day in nearly three years since hitting –33 C on Feb. 4, 2023.
WATCH | Some of the preparations for the cold snap:
Bracing for a cold weekend in the capital
Extremely cold temperatures will hit the Ottawa region starting Friday afternoon. CBC’s Natalia Goodwin reports on how cold it might get and when we can expect relief.
Friday and Saturday’s overnight lows in places such as Brockville, Ont., and Maniwaki, Que., should be more like –25 C with wind chill making it feel about –35.
Kingston, Ont., is forecast to be around –20 C and feel like about –30 with wind.
Environment Canada has cold warnings in place for all of eastern Ontario and western Quebec.
How to protect yourself
Health Canada says the risk of frostbite increases once wind chill makes it feel like –27 or colder.
It recommends that people dress in layers with a wind-resistant outer layer, protecting extremities such as your hands, feel, ears and nose and keeping moving to encourage blood flow.
It also recommends wearing sunglasses, sunscreen and lip balm on sunny days such as Saturday to prevent skin from windburn. The agency also says not to drink alcohol because it can trick you into thinking you’re warmer than you are.
Community responses to these kinds of cold conditions vary by municipality or county. Many places encourage people to warm up in community spaces such as libraries in the day and some such as Belleville, Ont., and Cornwall, Ont., open dedicated overnight warming centres.
Kingston is making an overnight warming centre available by referral from community groups.
Other cities, including Ottawa, have asked people who’d normally sleep outside to go to an emergency or transitional shelter, which has drawn criticism.