The meteorological services of the United States and Canada redoubled their alarming warnings on Friday for polar temperatures that could reach 50 degrees below zero in the American northeast and eastern Canada, under icy winds.
The northern US state of Maine, in particular, may see temperatures of minus 51ºC (degrees Celsius) tonight and next, according to a National Weather Service (NWS) bulletin for the region of Caribou, a city in northern Maine. not far from the canadian border.
“This is an epic Arctic cold snap,” never seen on the scale of a generation, especially “something northern and eastern Maine have not experienced since 1982 and 1988,” the NWS noted.
In parts of the Northeast and parts of New England, temperatures under wind chill “could reach their lowest levels in decades, if not the lowest on record,” the NWS warned.
Across the border, polar cold alerts were issued for eastern Canada, according to the Environment Ministry, which warned of the risk of frost within minutes.
In Montreal on Friday afternoon the temperature reached -41ºC. Mercury could dip to -50°C in northern Quebec. White smoke, called “Arctic sea smoke,” billowed over the St. Lawrence due to the extreme cold passing over the thawing water.
Strong gusts of wind battered the few passersby in downtown Montreal on Friday, which was sunny. The electric company “Hydro-Quebec” prepared for a record low for tonight and the next and called on customers to save energy.
In the capital, Ottawa, organizations such as the Salvation Army have distributed high-altitude sleeping bags to homeless people who are not sheltered, to withstand temperatures as low as -40ºC.
Dog owners were advised to keep them in warm places. In the city, visibility was almost zero Thursday night due to snowfall coupled with strong winds.
The worst of the cold and windy weather in the United States is expected to come tonight in cities such as Boston and New York, further south, where it could be -15ºC.
Temperatures are expected to rise on Sunday. Rain, snow, storms, freezing cold and humid heat – the Northeastern United States is subject to extreme weather events throughout the year, with loss of life and property damage.
Recently, over the Christmas weekend of 2022, a snowstorm hit the city of Buffalo in upstate New York, killing dozens of people.
Source: TSF
