As Albertans get ready to welcome a reprieve from what has been a long stretch of very cold weather in much of the province, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) says more cold temperature records were broken on Tuesday.
A weather summary posted to the agency’s website on Wednesday said preliminary data indicates parts of the province set new records for daily minimum temperature on Feb. 18: the Coronation area set a new record of -38.5 C, surpassing the 1929 record of -36.1 C; the Stony Plain area broke its 1986 record of -32 C by reaching -32.4 C, and the Milk River area tied its 2011 record of -29.4 C.
Temperatures were forecast to be somewhat warmer in most of the province on Wednesday and ECCC projects that much of Alberta will actually see above-zero temperatures on Thursday.
In Edmonton, officials announced Wednesday that the city will lift its extreme weather protocols on Thursday. Those protocols have been in place to provide supports to vulnerable Edmontonians trying to find ways to warm up.
On Tuesday, Global News spoke to David Phillips, a senior climatologist at ECCC, about the many days of freezing cold temperatures Edmonton has seen this February.
He said as of Tuesday, Edmonton’s number of days below -20 C this month was 15, when normally it would be five at this point in February. He added that the number of days below -30 C in Edmonton this month was at four, compared to what would normally just be one at this point in the month.
“Believe it or not, there were colder temperatures in January 2024,” Phillips said. “[This year] won’t beat the cold of February 2019.”
For a complete list of areas in Alberta under a weather alert, click here.
Want your weather on the go? Download Global News’ Skytracker weather app for iPhone, iPad and Android.
Frozen pipes in school one of many cold-related issues affecting Edmontonians
