Mild To Wild: Temperatures Dive More Than 20 Degrees In Under 24 Hours

It was 8C at 11am Friday morning, down a degree from our high of 9C reached before sunup.

An hour later, you could tell something was in the wind. Temperatures had plunged a full five degrees in less than an hour and by noon, those who were out early in lighter clothing were shivering in readings of just 4C.

And that was just the start. By 1pm, the mercury had slipped to 1C. And within another 60 minutes, it had slipped to the freezing mark.

Some went out dressed for spring before the big shift and quickly discovered reality had an unexpected bite.

“I’m not wearing much at all,” one young girl admits, as she paraded around in a T-shirt during the morning. “My mother would kill me if she saw me!”

Another woman confessed through chattering teeth that she hadn’t listened to the forecast. By the afternoon, she was paying the price. “I didn’t watch the news to see what the weather was going to be,” Connie Messina shivers.

All this followed a night of heavy rain that almost set a new record. We received 9.6 millimetres of precipitation before it cleared out. The record is 11.2 mm in 1997.

And then, right before the dinner hour, came the final insult – a few flakes of snow began falling in some areas, completing the transition from spring to winter.

But by the time you wake up Saturday morning, what we had later on Friday is going to seem downright warm. Temperatures are expected to fall to -15C, and with winds kicking up as high as 70 kilometres an hour, the wind chill will be in the -25 range.

Those readings will continue right through the weekend, in what’s been one of the most dramatic one day weather changes of the winter.

A cold front that drove out the heavy rain that fell overnight has led to flash freeze warnings for a large area of northern and eastern Ontario. But the GTA isn’t part of them.

Still, roads could be icy in sections and Toronto Police have issued a plea for drivers to take it easy until they’re sure of the conditions.  

“Bridges and tunnels, they’ll ice quicker than normal. Slow down a little,” pleads Sgt. Scott Collins. “Be aware that other motorists might hit ice in front of you. And leave a safe distance and be aware that things may change rapidly.”

All this has forced the city to call its ninth Extreme Cold Weather Alert of the year, as a means to help the homeless get out of the life threatening deep freeze. Extra shelter beds and patrols will be in force until further notice.

Here’s the timeline:

8am: The GTA get up to readings that make it feel like spring. The high of 9C was reached during the overnight hours.

11am: The cold front moves in and the showers move out. It’s now down to 4C and the winds are picking up.

12pm: Temperatures fall to just 1C.

1pm: It’s now at the freezing mark and the wind chill starts to put a nasty bite in the air.

2pm: The mercury has fallen to -3C – and continuing to decrease.

5pm-8pm : A big change from the morning. Cold Arctic air is now in force, as winds gust up to 50 kilometres an hour.  It hits -6C by 5pm.

Saturday morning: You’ll wake up to temperatures hovering around -15C and it won’t feel a lot warmer during the day.

There’s not much relief on the weekend, and things won’t really improve until Tuesday, but at least there’s some cold comfort ahead – the end of winter is in sight with the arrival of the new month. Spring officially begins on March 20 ^th.

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