Many Canadians have been battling unusually cold weather since the beginning of February. Record low temperatures have been shattered throughout the country and winter weather warnings have become commonplace.
The city of Calgary is also being affected by this polar vortex weather pattern, with daytime highs as much as 23 C below average.
WATCH: Road conditions in the city of Calgary causing problems
Calgary remains under an extreme cold warning, issued by Environment Canada. The warnings are issued when cold temperatures or wind chill creates an elevated risk to health such as frost bite and hypothermia.
February is typically the third coldest month of the year in Calgary with daytime highs averaging from -2 C to 1 C and overnight lows of -13 C to -11 C.
WATCH: Calgary’s cold snap a boost or a bust for businesses: ‘Worst February in 20 years’
Since Feb. 2, the city of Calgary has not made it above -11 C at all, and has dropped down to overnight lows of -29 C. The mean temperature from Feb. 2 to Feb. 10 ranged from -18 C to –26.2 C.
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The last time Calgary had a stretch of weather with mean temperatures this cold was in January 1998. For 12 days starting Jan. 2, the mean temperature ranged from -21.3 C to -30.2 C.
According to Environment Canada’s historical data, there have been days that were colder over the past 21 years, but there has not been a stretch of weather that was consistently as cold as what the city is experiencing now.
Unfortunately, there is not a lot of relief in sight. The forecast for the next week promises daytime highs to remain below -11 C with overnight lows below -20 C.
WATCH: Calgary cold snap costing homeowners
According to ENMAX, for every 10 degrees the temperature drops below zero, consumers can expect about an eight per cent increase in their energy usage.
For a look at the current weather watches and warnings click here.
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