Extreme cold warnings issued for much of Alberta

Environment Canada issued an extreme cold warning for much of the province of Alberta Wednesday afternoon.

Areas included in the warning include nearly all of Alberta except for regions immediately near the Rocky Mountains and southern Alberta.

The warning was issued at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, ahead of what Environment Canada called an expected “multi-day episode of very cold wind chills.”

According to Environment Canada, an Arctic airmass will move south over the province, and will produce extreme cold conditions Wednesday night.

Combined with winds of 10 to 15 kilometres per hour, Environment Canada said the wind chill could reach -40 degrees Celsius.

CTV Edmonton chief meteorologist Josh Classen said temperatures in the Edmonton Metro Region are expected to drop to the -25 to -30 degree Celsius range by Thursday morning.

Classen said wind should be light overnight and into Thursday, but said if winds pick up the wind chill could drop to closer to -40 degrees Celsius.

“Wind chills near -40 can produce frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 10 to 15 minutes,” Classen said.