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Environment Canada has issued cold warnings across eastern Ontario as temperatures plunge and the wind chill could make it feel like –35 on Thursday night.
The temperature will hover around –25 C well into Friday morning in cities including Ottawa, Kingston and Pembroke.
Friday night should be a bit warmer, but the temperature could drop back down to –25 C in the Ottawa Valley on Saturday night. There’s no wind chill forecast yet for Saturday.
Aside from Gatineau, Que., which almost always shares alerts with Ottawa, there are no alerts for western Quebec. Maniwaki is expected to drop to around –20 C the next few nights, with wind chill making it feel around –30.
How to protect yourself
Health Canada recommends that people dress in layers with a wind-resistant outer layer, protecting extremities such as your hands, feet, 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 cities like Belleville, Ont., and Cornwall, Ont., have opened dedicated overnight warming centres.
Kingston has extended a temporary warming centre at the Artillery Park Aquatics Centre on Bagot Street until Monday morning.
Other cities, including Ottawa, have asked people who’d normally sleep outside to go to an emergency or transitional shelter, which has drawn criticism.
The City of Ottawa also maintains a map of places where people can warm up during an extreme cold spell. Anyone who is seeking a shelter referral or who’s trying to get someone else out of the cold can call 311.
For medical emergencies like hypothermia, call 911.