Torontonians should only venture outside if necessary this weekend as a band of bitterly cold air is set to roll in, according to Environment Canada.
There is a weather advisory in effect for Toronto for tonight and Friday morning.
While temperatures are expected to sit around the freezing mark for most of Thursday, Environment Canada says they will drop to an overnight low of -10 with the windchill and continue to plummet over the course of the weekend.
Wintery conditions will persist into Friday, with flurries and periods of light snow expected near noon, and a low of -11 C overnight.
While Saturday and Sunday will see clear and sunny skies, conditions will be much chillier thanks to a cold front moving in from the arctic.
“We have a system that’s going to be crossing just south of the lower Great Lakes this weekend, and once that passes to the east, it’s going to be ushering in some very cold air mass behind it, coming from the Arctic,” Steven Flisfeder, a warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada, told Now Toronto on Thursday.
Toronto residents should also expect a blustery few days.
Saturday will be sunny with a high of – 8 C and a low of – 16 C, with even nippier conditions on Sunday.
“Temperatures will be about -15 C, maybe as low as -20 for Sunday. But when you factor in the wind, you could be looking at wind chills of about -25,” Flisfeder continued, adding that this sudden cold snap might feel like a bit of a “slap in the face” compared to what we’ve been experiencing through December.
The last time Toronto saw a similar cold spell was from Jan. 19 to 20 of this year, where temperatures got down to about -15 C and prior to that, the last comparable temperature drop was Feb. 2023, Flisfeder said.
“It’s a bit rare to see those kinds of low temperatures for Toronto…it may happen once or twice a winter, but we’ve been seeing it occurring less over the past couple of years. And when it does occur, it’s one or two days, and then it’s gone,” he explained.
Western parts of the GTA could also get significant snowfall, especially on Friday, which Flisfeder says commuters need to take into consideration when travelling to work.
“Take your time and give yourself some extra padding to get where you need to go,” he said, adding that if you don’t have to be on the roads or venture outside over the next few days, it’s better to stay indoors, or to limit your time outside.
“Make sure you’re wearing extra layers to help keep that thermal layer as close as possible,” he concluded.
The city’s warming centres will open at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, to find their locations, and for more information about the warming centre services, click here.
