By Abby Zieverink

Environment Canada

Extreme cold expected to last into next week for Grande Prairie area

Jan 2, 2022 | 6:00 AM

The extreme cold hanging over the Grande Prairie area is expected to continue well into the next week.

Environment Canada Meteorologist Natalie Hasell says despite the somewhat slightly warmer temperatures over the weekend, they are expected to continually drop again starting Sunday, January 2.

“The high on Sunday is minus 23 and then temperatures fall back down to minus 37 for Sunday night and do not get much warmer at all for quite a while, we are not seeing much of an improvement until the second week of January.”

She says between January 8-11 the region should begin to see a break in the cold snap.

Hasell says although the region is experiencing very cold conditions, she doesn’t believe there will be any record-breaking temperatures over the first weeks of January.

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“All the records for the first week of January are minus 40 or colder and that is not in your forecast, you are going to come close on a few nights possibly for a few overnight temperatures.”

Hasell tells EverythingGP extreme cold warnings are issued because there is a hazard to one’s safety with these conditions.

“The main thing we want to avoid in these conditions is avoiding any situation that could lead to frostbite or hypothermia,” she explained.

“When we are talking about these conditions, we are talking about exposed skin freezing in the span of a few minutes, so you need to pay attention to how you’re feeling and how the people around you are feeling if you are outdoors,” she explained.

She says checking on those exposed to extreme temperatures, including yourself, is crucial to avoid frostbite or hypothermia.

Frostbite:

“Ask the question, how are you feeling? Is anything painful? has anything gone from painful to being numb?” Hasell suggested.

“Frostbite is defined as the top layer of the skin freezing and then the tissues underneath that freezing, your nerves freeze too, so what started off as really painful as things start to freeze can go tingly or numb, that is frostbite. As it progresses it could lead to permanent skin damage or amputation.”

Hypothermia:

“Ask the question, how long have you been outdoors, do you have a medical condition, are you a diabetic?”

“Hypothermia is defined as your core temperature falling below a healthy level and it too is a very serious medical condition that can happen very suddenly.”

She suggests signs to look out for in the later stages of Hypothermia include difficulty walking, talking, and confusion.

“In the later stages of Hypothermia someone dealing with this could look like they’re drunk or look like they’re going through a diabetic episode.”