Brrrr … it’s the coldest morning of the winter in Toronto

By News staff

In case you haven’t noticed, the mind-numbing cold has arrived in the GTA.

Toronto is under an extreme cold weather alert as temperatures plunged overnight and into Thursday morning, making it the coldest morning of the winter season so far.

As of 7 a.m., the temperature hit -16.4 C and at one point the wind chill was a shivering -26.

Don’t let the afternoon sunshine fool you, as the frigid temperatures continue into Friday night with the wind chill near -21.

But this latest cold snap is just a taste of what’s to come. Although the high is only -4 C on Friday, the wind chill will hover near -21 C and drop to -32 C overnight, 680 NEWS meteorologist Jill Taylor said.

It is expected to be even colder on Saturday with potentially record-breaking lows for a Feb. 13.

Taylor said the high on Saturday will be near -16 C … but wait for it, it will feel near -30 C with the wind. CityNews meteorologist Natasha Ramsahai said to expect a high of -18 C with a wind chill of -29 “at the warmest point of the day.”

If you are heading out on Saturday evening, brace for temperatures near -23 C with a wind chill near -34, Taylor said.

The brutal cold has caught NBA superstars off-guard ahead of the NBA All-Star weekend. Golden State Warriors guard and current NBA MVP Stephen Curry, who just landed in Toronto, tweeted a video of his cold experience.

“We just landed in ‘The 6,’ think it’s like -20 F [-29 C], but we’re going to make it,” he said.

Toronto’s medical officer of health issued the extreme cold weather alert for the city on Thursday morning. It will be in effect until further notice.

An alert is issued when temperatures are set to reach -15 C or colder according to Environment Canada’s forecast.

During extreme cold weather alerts, extra services are available to the homeless, including two 24-hour drop-ins and extra shelter beds.

Click here for more information on cold weather alerts and the services they trigger.

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