Cold, cold, extreme cold all across Manitoba

Manitoba has been wrapped in an icy blanket of extreme cold.

There's going to be a lot of strong language that begins with the alphabet's sixth letter today. It's the first truly cuttingly cold day this winter for most people in the province(those in the far north, however, are on Day 5 of extreme wind chills).

We've been spoiled by a milder-than-usual winter to this point, so Friday's frigid temperatures will hithard.

Wind chill values near 40 will be felt acrossmuch of southern Manitoba, with45 to 50 over northern Manitoba. That meansexposed skin could freeze within10 minutes in the south and close to five minutes up north.

Things improveslightly on Saturday as cloud builds in from the west in the afternoon. Themorning temperature, however, will be around 30 C with a wind chill close to40.

Winnipeg forecast for Friday

• Sunny and cold, high 23 C.
• Wind chill of 35 throughout the day.
• Wind northwest 15 km/h in morning.
• Northwest wind 20-30 km/h in afternoon.
• TONIGHT clear and cold.
• Overnight low 29 C.
• Wind chill 39.

Normal temperatures for this time of year are a daytime high of9 C and overnight low of19 C.

John Sauder's weather journal for Feb. 12