It was a cold day in Saskatoon Tuesday, as temperatures plummeted to bring the first blast of winter air to the Bridge City.
Students at the University of Saskatchewan were bundled up and shivering as they waited for their buses, breath clouds pluming in front of them.
“It’s excruciating,” said one student waiting for a bus outside the Louis Riel Student Centre. “My face is going numb.”
The wind chill factor Tuesday hovered around -30 C for most of the morning and afternoon.
The cold snap follows unseasonably warm temperatures, which forced some students to make some hasty fashion adjustments.
“I was wearing shorts up until yesterday,” one said. “I woke up this morning and had to put on pants.”
MD AMBULANCE RECOMMENDATIONS
Troy Davies, spokesperson for MD Ambulance in Saskatoon said it’s common during the first drop in temperatures for the organization to respond to “cold calls.”
“You can get frostbite or other underlying medical illnesses you have trigger because you’re fighting the cold,” he said.
He also noted children and those over 65 are at highest risk. Kids are used to playing outside, while seniors may be accustomed to walking to the store.
“When you get into these conditions, [illness or frostbite] can set in because you’re just not used to it,” he said.
Davies recommends those who are going outdoors to dress in layers and limit their skin exposure in the cold and wind.
COLD EXPECTED TO LAST
The first deep freeze is expected to last for at least the next week according to Environment Canada.
Winds are expected to die down from 50 km/h gusts to 20 km/h Wednesday, but the high temperature is set for -14 C with a wind chill of -27 C.
Throughout the rest of the week, highs are projected to fall from -18 C Thursday to -24 C Sunday.
Wind chills by the weekend could bottom out at -40 C.