Extreme cold continues across Northern Canada, with temperatures staying between –20°C and -40°C for several weeks. On December 23, the region recorded its coldest December temperature since 1975.
Parts of Yukon are facing a long stretch of dangerous cold:
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Mayo recorded 16 nights in a row below -40°C, including a low of -50.4°C on Monday.
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Dawson also saw 16 straight nights below -40°C.
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Whitehorse experienced 10 nights below -30°C.
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Mayo has had 12 days since December 9 with an average temperature colder than -40°C.
On Monday, December 22, Braeburn, Yukon, recorded an extremely cold -55.4°C. This was the coldest temperature in Canada since January 1999, when temperatures reached -57°C.
The very next day, on December 23, Braeburn got even colder at –55.7°C. This is the coldest temperature ever recorded in Canada during December since 1975, when the temperature dropped to -56.7°C.
Meteorologists say the extreme cold is caused by the polar vortex, which has stayed parked over Northern Canada this month.
There is no major warming expected until January. Overnight temperatures in Yukon are likely to remain between –40°C and -50°C for the rest of the week.
As the cold air loosens its grip in the Arctic, it is expected to spread south into other parts of Canada before New Year’s Eve, bringing much colder weather as unusually warm December temperatures in the United States begin to fade.
