Toronto copes with yet another deep freeze
Posted February 13, 2015 1:12 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Torontonians are dealing with yet another deep freeze in the city, as the temperature plunged to the coldest day of the winter season so far.
On Friday morning, the mercury dropped to -22.8 C at Pearson International Airport, with wind chill values near -33 C.
The coldest morning prior to this one was on Jan. 13 when the temperature hit -21.2 C and a wind chill of -32.
Environment Canada has ended an extreme cold warning issued on Thursday for parts of the GTA.
Toronto’s extreme cold weather alert, which triggers extra services for the homeless, was extended on Friday and will be in effect until further notice.
Transit in the GTA has been severely affected by the cold this winter, with aging infrastructure unable to cope with the frigid temperatures. Both GO Transit and TTC have endured delays on train and streetcar lines.
On Friday, the TTC replaced the 502 Downtowner and 503 Kingston streetcar routes with buses due to the “extreme cold weather.”
680News meteorologist Jill Taylor said the GTA will get a brief break from the cold overnight with a low of -13 C on Friday.
Cold weekend in store for Toronto
However, the bitterly cold temperatures continues on Saturday, which is also Valentine’s Day, with a high near -5 C and the low near -23 C. There is also some snow in store for the city with around one to two centimetres in accumulation.
On Thursday, Taylor said it will “likely be the coldest Valentine’s Day in five years.”
Over the past five years, Valentine’s Day has seen warmer temperatures between 6 C and -1 C, Taylor said. The warmest Feb. 14 on record was 8 C, set in 1984.
However, on Sunday, the daytime temperature will be more bone-chilling at -17 C, while the low will be near -23 C. Taylor said Family Day will see a mix of sun and cloud with a high near -10 C.
Click here for the forecast.
