Yellowknife fell under an extreme cold weather warning from Environment Canada on Sunday night. But how chilly will New Year’s Eve be across the NWT?
If you’re planning on heading out to see some fireworks or just heading down the street to see friends, here’s what you can expect on New Year’s Eve.
The headline: it shouldn’t be that bad.
In Yellowknife, Environment Canada’s data suggests the extreme wind chill forecast overnight did not fully materialize – with minus-44 (with wind chill) being the low, at around 1am in the early hours of Monday.
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Throughout Monday, the temperature in the territory’s capital should steadily increase, meaning a welcome – and relatively warm – high of minus-17 without wind chill (minus-27 with it) in the hour leading up to midnight and the new year.
If you’re heading out with kids earlier in the evening, you can expect it to be minus-20 (minus-30 with wind chill) at 6pm, warming slightly as the evening goes on.
The forecast is similar for the surrounding North Slave region, with a chance of light snow in some parts.
Heading up to Inuvik, you’re in for a pleasant evening.
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The Environment Canada forecast calls for temperatures of around minus-7, or minus-12 with wind chill, for much of the afternoon and early evening, only dipping slightly to around minus-10 by midnight.
In Paulatuk, which faced vicious winds of more than 70 kph overnight – gusting above 90 kph – the wind should drop significantly by Monday evening to a more sedate 15 kph, with temperatures in the region of minus-15.
Norman Wells can expect a clear night with temperatures of about minus-18 throughout the evening, with very little wind.
Across in the Dehcho, Fort Simpson will also have barely any breeze on Monday night with temperatures gently increasing to minus-16 by midnight. Fort Liard will be a shade warmer at minus-14 but winds of up to 30 kph are forecast, meaning it could feel more like minus-25 outside.
In the South Slave, Hay River – like Yellowknife – should emerge from an exceptionally cold Sunday night to embrace a more palatable Monday.
Temperatures could leap more than 20 degrees in a day to provide a balmy minus-11 by midnight, or minus-14 earlier in the evening for the kids, although there’ll be about 10 degrees of wind chill on top of that.
In Fort Smith, where an extreme cold warning ended at 4:30am on Monday, there’s a chance of flurries and a forecast temperature of minus-17 (minus-25 with wind chill) for midnight. It’ll be minus-24, or minus-33 with wind chill, earlier in the evening at around 6pm.
Fort Resolution will see temperatures much the same as Fort Smith, while Łutselkʼe will be a little cooler with a midnight temperature of minus-20, or minus-30 with wind chill.
(If you head out on Monday night and it turns out to be minus-40 with minus-70 wind chill, we’d just like to say: blame Environment Canada, not us.)
From everyone at Cabin Radio, we hope you have a wonderful New Year’s Eve and we wish you all the best for 2019!
