Arctic air brings plunging temperatures to much of Canada – National [Video]

A mass of cold air that meandered south from the Arctic has sent temperatures plunging with wind chills making it feel like -40 Celsius or colder across parts of Canada from New Brunswick to eastern Alberta.

Arctic cold occasionally invades the southern latitudes for a few days before retreating north, bringing with it shivering temperatures, Peter Kimbell, meteorologist with Environment Canada, said Monday in an interview.

“We have permanently cold air parked across the Arctic …. From time to time, a pool of cold air meanders southward, and basically affects areas that are further south. And when that happens, people colloquially call it a polar vortex,” Kimbell said.

Extreme cold warnings are in effect across the country, with temperatures feeling like -40 C in parts of Alberta, -45 C in Saskatchewan, and down to -50 C in parts of Manitoba and northern Ontario.

Thresholds for extreme cold warning vary across …