Manitoba, western Canada to ring in 2022 with bone-chilling extreme cold

Most of Manitoba will ring in the new year under a blanket of dangerously cold Arctic air.

Extreme cold warnings remained in place Friday for the majorityof the province, including Winnipeg, Brandon, Winkler, Gimli, Dauphin, The Pas and communities in between.

The warnings extend through much of southern and central Saskatchewan, all of Alberta and into parts of British Columbia.

The weather agency says temperatures with wind chill values between -40 and -50 are expectedthroughout much of southern Manitoba today and into Saturday. There could be some moderation of wind chills today, but some areas could see that persist throughout the final day of the year.

Wind chill values reached -50 C in Roblin and -51 C in Swan River on Friday morning, said Environment Canada meteorologist Kyle McAulay.

"I think we're kind of paying the price for that milder weather we had earlier on this winter, early fall. We have some pretty clear skies, [and] an Arctic ridge to our west that's building in," he said.

Three weather records were broken in Manitoba on Thursday. Grand Rapids reached-38.5 C. The old record of -36.7 C set in 1968.

Altona and Gretna, in extreme southern Manitoba, both hit -34.2 C. The old records of -33.3 C in both towns were set in 1976.

This extreme cold is expected to remain over most of southern Manitoba on New Year's Day, with a slight warm up in temperatures coming Sunday.

In parts of northern Manitoba, the cold air mass is dropping wind chill values to nearly -45 this morning.Thisis expected to moderate somewhat throughout the day, the weather agency says.

McAulay says Manitobans shouldprepare for more frigid weather in the early part of next year.

"Our long-term models look like after the weekend and getting into the middle of next week this will likely be coming back again, and there's a good chance there will be some more extreme cold warnings issued," he said.

Exposure to frostbite within minutes is a hazard, so remember to bundle up and dress warm if you venture outside.

"If you have to go outside really minimize the amount of time you have to spend outside and really cover up in as much layers as possible, and cover up all bare skin as best you can," McAulay said.

Environment Canada also reminds people to watch for cold-related symptoms such as shortness of breath, chest pain, muscle pain and weakness, numbing and colour change in fingers and toes.