Toronto shatters temperature record as wind chill hits -40 C

The unrelenting cold weather system plaguing Toronto smashed yet another decades-old record as temperatures dropped to just -23 C on Friday morning.

Previous to this, the lowest temperature ever recorded in our city on Jan. 5 was -20.6 C. That was almost 60 years ago, in 1959.

An extreme cold warning issued yesterday by Environment Canada remains in effect for Toronto as "a prolonged period of very cold wind chills is expected."

The federal weather agency forecasts a high of -16 C today with a low of -25 C, but icy winds could make it feel as cold as -40 C.

Pay attention to #WindChill. Even light winds at cold temperatures are dangerous. https://t.co/ZcH2VKWQMn #WinterInCanada pic.twitter.com/l8o4nkgrY9

— Environment Canada (@environmentca) January 4, 2018

"Wind chill values due to northwest winds up to 50 kilometres per hour will be in the minus 35 to 40 range early this morning," warns Environment Canada. "The extreme cold will continue until Saturday or possibly into Sunday morning."

But there's good news, too. If meteorologists are right, Toronto should warm up significantly by early next week. 

We might see some snow on Monday, but The Weather Network predicts that thermometers will rise up into the positives at 2 C. That should feel more like 20 C with the memories of today's wind chill fresh in our minds.