As Alberta remained mired in a December deep freeze on Tuesday, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) revealed this week’s cold snap has already unofficially smashed over two-dozen weather records.
“An Arctic air mass continues to bring extremely cold temperatures to Alberta,” the weather agency said on its website. “On Dec. 19, temperatures plummeted over the province, leading to many daily minimum temperature records being broken in the evening hours.”
Global Edmonton meteorologist Jesse Beyer noted Tuesday that “wind chill values could drop close to -50 overnight tonight in parts of the province.”
“Wind chills between -40 and -47 can lead to frostbite on exposed skin in five to 10 minutes, (while at) -48 and colder it can set in as soon as two minutes,” he added.
“The cold will stick around for the entire work week, improving to the -5 to -10 range through the weekend.”
READ MORE: Cold surge continues to have tight grasp on Alberta
Global Edmonton weather specialist Phil Darlington noted that “it is not totally out of the ordinary to see a lot of weather records broken at once.”
“We have had similar cases when all of the province was under a heat warning,” he said.
ECCC noted its summary of broken records should be considered “preliminary or unofficial information” until a final report is completed.
The following records were unofficially broken Monday evening:
Banff area
New record of -38.9 C
Old record of -35.6 C set in 1921
Records in this area have been kept since 1887
Bow Island area
New record of -33.6 C
Old record of -31.7 C set in 1961
Records in this area have been kept since 1961
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Bow Valley (Provincial Park) area
New record of -40.5 C
Old record of -36.3 C set in 2008
Records in this area have been kept since 1928
Claresholm area
New record of -35.8 C
Old record of -32.0 C set in 1983
Records in this area have been kept since 1951
Hendrickson Creek area
New record of -45.4 C
Old record of -41.1 C set in 2008
Records in this area have been kept since 1995
High River area
New record of -34.8 C
Old record of -33.9 C set in 1921
Records in this area have been kept since 1913
Jasper area
New record of -40.7 C
Old record of -38.9 C set in 1921
Records in this area have been kept since 1916
Milk River area
New record of -31.8 C
Old record of -26.1 C set in 2008
Records in this area have been kept since 1994
Pincher Creek area
New record of -31.7 C
Old record of -29.5 C set in 1983
Records in this area have been kept since 1893
Sundre area
New record of -39.6 C
Old record of -36.7 C set in 2008
Records in this area have been kept since 1993
The following records were unofficially broken on Tuesday morning:
Red Deer area
New record of -38.7 C
Old record of -36.8 C set in 1990
Records in this area have been kept since 1904
Peace River area
New record of -41.0 C
Old record of -40.0 C set in 1970
Records in this area have been kept since 1907
Onefour area
New record of -34.3 C
Old record of -33.3 C set in 1951
Records in this area have been kept since 1928
Breton area
New record of -39.6 C
Old record of -37.0 C set in 1990
Records in this area have been kept since 1939
Rocky Mountain House area
New record of -41.8 C
Old record of -41.1 C set in 1921
Records in this area have been kept since 1915
Cochrane area
New record of -37.8 C
Old record of -35.3 C set in 1990
Records in this area have been kept since 1984
Milk River area
New record of -33.1 C
Old record of -32.8 C set in 2008
Records in this area have been kept since 1994
Banff area
New record of -41.5 C
Old record of -40.6 C set in 1921
Records in this area have been kept since 1887
Bow Valley (Provincial Park) area
New record of -42.8 C
Old record of -34.4 C set in 1998
Records in this area have been kept since 1928
Bow Island area
New record of -34.4 C
Old record of -34.2 C set in 2008
Records in this area have been kept since 1961
Lacombe area
New record of -38.6 C
Old record of -38.5 C set in 1990
Records in this area have been kept since 1907
High River area
New record of -35.0 C
Old record of -33.9 C set in 1921
Records in this area have been kept since 1913
Sundre area
New record of -43.0 C
Old record of -39.0 C set in 2008
Records in this area have been kept since 1993
Hendrickson Creek area
Preliminary new record of -48.2 C
Old record of -39.3 C set in 2008
Records in this area have been kept since 1995
Beaverlodge area
New record of -39.3 C
Old record of -39.0 C set in 1990
Records in this area have been kept since 1912
Drumheller area
New record of -39.6 C
Old record of -36.0 C set in 1989
Records in this area have been kept since 1923
Highvale area
New record of -36.6 C
Old record of -31.4 C set in 2008
Records in this area have been kept since 1977
Three Hills area
New record of -37.1 C
Old record of -36.1 C set in 1921
Records in this area have been kept since 1921
Cardston area
New record of -35.8 C
Old record of -35.1 C set in 2008
Records in this area have been kept since 1918
Jasper area
New record of -43.2 C
Old record of -39.5 C set in 1990
Records in this area have been kept since 1916
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