Bitter arctic cold Sunday morning shattered temperature records on the Prairieof Alberta, where the city of Edmonton is bracing for another night of extremecold. The low temperature at the Edmonton International Airport was -51 F, or-46.1 C, cold enough to set a new record low temperature for Dec. 13.Moreover, it was among the coldest mornings in city history. Lows down to -55 Fhave been registered in December at another site, the airport at BlatchfordField. The reading of -56.9 F reached elsewhere in Edmonton on the 19th ofJanuary 1886, still stand as lowest overall in the city.
Into this morning, the temperature took a nosedive again with readings atdaybreak today, bottoming at -30 F to -40 F across the city. For perspective,the normal low temperature on the 12th to the 14th would be a bracing 3 F, avirtual heat wave next to this brutal cold.
Edmontonians and Albertans as a whole can look forward to a break in the arcticchill as warming wafts in from the Pacific Ocean during middle to late parts ofthe week.
Story By AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Jim Andrews.
