Cold weather alerts that have gripped most of southern Ontario since Thursday could break by Sunday morning as sunshine in the forecast.
However, the frigid temperatures Ontarians are currently experiencing likely aren’t going away any time soon.
Environment Canada meteorologist Mitchell Meredith said cold warnings could return to large swaths of southern Ontario next Saturday as the next wave of cold air comes in.
Sub-zero temperatures in southern Ontario could stick around until mid-to-late-February, Meredith said, marking a noticeable long stretch of cold temperatures not seen in the region in recent years.
In Toronto and Ottawa, for instance, temperatures have been below freezing since Jan. 18. By the time temperatures rise above 0 C, those cities may have a month or more of continuous freezing temperatures in the books, the meteorologist said.
The current cold snap is a consequence of the polar vortex, according to Meredith, a large area of frigid Arctic air that commonly stretches south during the winter and causes temperatures to plummet in Central Canada.
Record snowfall in Toronto may also be dragging temperatures down in Ontario’s capital.
“When you get a lot of snowpack and ice on the ground, that can also help keep things cold,” Meredith said.
Some Torontonians, undeterred by the cold, have been continuing to take advantage of the snow leftover from last Sunday’s historic storm.
Nicolas Zucco, an urban planning consultant from Toronto, was armed with a red toboggan Saturday afternoon, ready to sled again for the first time since he was a kid.
Zucco said he’s been mostly staying at home amid the cold warnings but was drawn outside by mostly sunny conditions on Saturday.
“It definitely feels like the coldest winter in Toronto we’ve had for a long time,” he said. “But it’s too depressing if you stay at home.”
Toronto could see a wind chill of -25 overnight before temperatures are forecasted to warm to a high of -8 C  Sunday, Meredith said. In Ottawa, temperatures were expected to drop to -31 with wind chill overnight before rising to a high of -11 C Sunday.
As cold warnings persist in southern Ontario, Environment Canada has warned of frostbite, which can develop within minutes on exposed skin and cause numbness, a tingling sensation or swelling.
