Toronto is now under an extreme cold weather warning, with temperatures expected to feel like -35 with the wind chill later tonight.
Environment Canada issued the alert for the city and surrounding areas Tuesday morning, as an arctic airmass hangs over the region.
The weather agency said the bitter cold will put “everyone” at risk before more moderate temperatures return Wednesday afternoon.
Under the current conditions, officials said frostbite can develop within minutes on exposed skin and advised people in the area to dress warmly.
“Watch for cold related symptoms: shortness of breath, chest pain, muscle pain and weakness, numbness and colour change in fingers and toes,” the alert read.
The warning was issued for the entire Greater Toronto Area. Environment Canada encouraged people to check in on older family members and friends during the cold snap and said pets should not stay outside at this time.
The alert is far reaching, extending to Windsor in the west, Kingston in the east, and Barrie in the north. Warnings have also been issued for much of northern Ontario.
The temperature in the city isn’t expected to rise above –11 C on Tuesday, marking the coldest daytime high seen in three years.
A disrupted polar vortex that started moving into the region on Sunday is to blame for the bitter cold and expected to hang around until mid-week.
According to Environment Canada, the temperature at Pearson International Airport was -15.8C earlier this morning, marking the coldest day so far in 2025.
“It’s bitterly cold out there,” CP24 Meteorologist Bill Coulter said. “Bundle up to greet the day and beat the chill. With a breeze gusting at times to 40km/h out of the west, the high of -11 C will feel around -20 at its warmest. We could see a few bursts of flurries along the tail end of lake effect this afternoon.”
The last time Toronto saw a daytime high this low was on Jan. 15, 2022, when the mercury only reached -13.1 C.
Amid the cold, there’s also a 30 per cent chance of flurries in Toronto this afternoon.
The city’s warming centres, including two surge sites, remain open for people experiencing homelessness. Their locations can be found here.
“During this and other colder time periods, the City also activates additional street outreach workers to coordinate with teams that provide medical and mental health practitioners. Together, they are focused on doing everything they can to provide important care, hand out warm clothing and sleeping bags, and encourage people staying outdoors to come inside,” the city said in a statement.
The city is reminding residents that water mains are more susceptible to breaking during extreme cold as low temperatures can cause loose soil to freeze and expand. Broken water mains can be reported to 311.
‘This is what you call the dead of winter’: David Phillips
Environment Canada Senior Climatologist David Phillips said he expects the temperature to “bottom out” at -19 C overnight, which he said isn’t colder than any other temperature the city has seen this winter so far.
“This is what you call the dead of winter. This is the bottom of the barrel, so to speak, in the Toronto area, in terms of cold temperatures,” Phillips said. “We didn’t have anything like this last year. I mean, that’s the year we cancelled winter,” referring to the relatively mild winter conditions in 2023.
The deep freeze is likely to extend all the way to the end of the month, according to Phillips, with a relative reprieve this weekend when the temperature inches closer to 0 C.
“The good news, if you’re not a big fan of winter, statistically, at least, it gets fractionally warmer from this point on. But, hey, we’re going to have to endure these next few days for sure,” Phillips said.
