
Prairies: Coldest air of the season floods in straight from Siberia
While temperatures this week will be some of the coldest so far this season, it's still a long way off from record breaking in parts of Saskatchewan and Manitoba
An early holiday gift from Siberia, bitterly cold temperatures are on their way south through the Prairies this week. Daytime highs will struggle to crack -20ºC on Tuesday and Wednesday, even for major cities like Regina and Winnipeg. And while the winds won't be exceptionally strong, even a gentle breeze will have wind chills pushing -40 for some. We take a look at how long the deep freeze lasts, below.
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WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS:
Siberian air streaming southward, covering the eastern Prairies through Wednesday
Daytime highs struggle to crack -20°C, feeling like the -30s and -40s with wind chill
Stay aware of ALERTS in your area
TUESDAY/WEDNESDAY -- BITING COLD WITH HARSH WIND CHILL
Cold air streaming across the pole from Siberia -- cross-polar flow -- began its march south into the Prairies on Monday, as the daytime high in spots like Gillam, Manitoba, failed to climb higher than -30ºC. Unfortunately for points farther south, the cold won't stop there; bitterly cold conditions are on the way for most of the eastern Prairies through mid-week.

Temperatures Tuesday and Wednesday will feature the coldest air of the season so far across the eastern Prairies. Daytime highs hovering around -20°C will feel ten degrees colder with dangerous wind chills into the -30s.

While still dangerously cold for this time of year, records aren't likely to be in jeopardy for major centres.
Regina, for example, is forecast to drop to -29°C through the pre-dawn hours Tuesday, which is frigid but still a long way off from the record of -34.4°C. Winnipeg is expected to drop to -26°C, but that's still nearly 10 degrees away from their record low for December 10th.

LATE WEEK -- MILDER PACIFIC AIR RETURNS
The bitter chill loosens its grip by late week, sending temperatures back near seasonal. Daytime high temperatures may also inch up above the freezing mark for some parts of southern Alberta and Saskatchewan as the cold is quickly replaced by milder Pacific air through the week's end.