Extreme cold warnings blanket almost all of Saskatchewan

Environment Canada expanded its extreme cold warnings Wednesday afternoon to cover almost the entire province of Saskatchewan.

As of 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, the only region spared from the weather service’s cold warnings was the southwestern corner of the province, in the areas around Swift Current, Shaunavon and Leader.

“A prolonged period of very cold wind chills is expected,” Environment Canada said in a statement. “Conditions will improve on Thursday, but some areas may see a return of extreme wind chills on Thursday night.”

In Saskatoon, the mercury was expected to plunge down to -37 C Wednesday night, and in Regina the overnight low was forecast to be just two degrees warmer at -35 C.

“Cover up,” Environment Canada advised. “Frostbite can develop within minutes on exposed skin, especially with wind chill.”

The latest alerts from Environment Canada can be found online.