{"id":422348,"date":"2026-01-22T06:32:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T06:32:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/422348\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T06:32:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T06:32:08","slug":"quebec-braces-for-extreme-arctic-cold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/422348\/","title":{"rendered":"Quebec Braces for Extreme Arctic Cold"},"content":{"rendered":"

Quebec will be at the epicentre of the world\u2019s coldest air mass this weekend.<\/p>\n

This Saturday, the coldest temperatures on Earth won\u2019t be found in Siberia or Greenland \u2014 they\u2019ll be right here in Quebec.<\/p>\n

According to a report by M\u00e9t\u00e9oM\u00e9dia, atmospheric conditions across the Northern Hemisphere show that the most intense Arctic air mass on the planet (i.e., the darkest purple zones on weather maps) will be positioned squarely over Ontario and Quebec on Friday and Saturday.<\/p>\n

\"Winter\"
\nPhotograph: Shutterstock \/ Andrei Stepanov <\/p>\n

How cold will it be in Montreal this weekend?<\/p>\n

A brutally frigid Saturday with daytime highs struggling to rise above \u201320\u00b0C in southern Quebec and extreme wind chills of \u201330 to \u201335.<\/p>\n

The report cautions that it\u2019s expected to be colder here than in Antarctica, where inland temperatures average around \u201330\u00b0C this time of year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even with relatively light winds of around 20 km per hour, wind chill values will plunge to polar levels, dropping to \u201330 to \u201335 by the afternoon across much of the province.<\/p>\n

Check out: Major Quebec ski resort abruptly cancels 2026 ski season<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Winter,
\nPhotograph: Joy Real \/ Unsplash <\/p>\n

While temperatures will begin falling on Friday, the worst of this cold snap is expected on Saturday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The core of the Arctic air aloft will shift eastward, engulfing all of Quebec.<\/p>\n

This polar vortex intrusion could mark a rare moment<\/a> in recent weather history.<\/p>\n

Montreal may record a daytime high below \u201320\u00b0C on Saturday \u2014 something that hasn\u2019t happened since January 6, 2018.<\/p>\n

Forecast models suggest that this \u201chigh\u201d could even be reached overnight between Friday and Saturday.<\/p>\n

Read more: Polar vortex to bring winter of yesteryear to Montreal<\/a><\/p>\n

This weekend likely marks the coldest stretch of the winter so far.<\/p>\n

After the sharp plunge from Friday to Saturday, temperatures may rebound slightly, but will remain well below seasonal norms through the end of the month.<\/p>\n

A return to more typical winter conditions isn\u2019t expected until early February.<\/p>\n

RECOMMENDED:\u00a0
Full guide to the\u00a0best things to do in Montreal\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Quebec will be at the epicentre of the world\u2019s coldest air mass this weekend. This Saturday, the coldest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":422349,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[2629,192,79,2628],"class_list":{"0":"post-422348","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-categories-things-to-do","9":"tag-environment","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-things-to-do"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=422348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422348\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/422349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=422348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=422348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=422348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}