With nighttime lows of -27 C in forecast, Edmonton activates extreme weather response

The City of Edmonton is helping its homeless population ahead of an anticipated cold snap.

The temperature is expected to drop to minus-20 degrees Celsius with the windchill overnight Monday into Tuesday.

Those cold nighttime lows are slated to plummet even further as the week progresses, with the mercury hitting minus-27 on Thursday and Friday night.

The threshold for activating the extreme weather response is a temperature of minus-20 with wind chill for at least three consecutive nights.

The response started Monday morning. An update will be provided by Dec. 19.

“As weather conditions change, subsequent alerts may be sent to advise of changes to the activation timeline,” the city said in a news release.

During the response, open city facilities like libraries and recreation centres will be available for anyone who needs a respite from the cold during regular operation periods.

Two shelter shuttles will run throughout winter, starting at Southgate Transit Centre and Northgate Transit Centre towards downtown.

During the response, a third shelter bus running along the north route will bring people to shelters with available space.

The Al Rashid Mosque at 13070 113 St. NW will open an overnight shelter from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. during extreme weather responses.

Snow on the way for northern Alberta

Meanwhile many parts of north and southeastern Alberta are expected to get a blast of wintry weather Monday.

Environment Canada says much of the Peace Region north of Edmonton, including Grande Prairie in the west and areas near Athabasca in the east, could see between 15 and 30 centimetres of snow.

The weather office says aside from possible breaks, snow is expected to fall until later Monday.

Areas south of Edmonton, such as Red Deer and Medicine Hat, are under a winter storm watch that could bring heavy rain, strong winds and flurries before Tuesday.

Forecasters say the front will bring hazardous conditions and are encouraging people to put off any travel.

In the Rocky Mountains, the weather service is warning of strong wind gusts up to 100 kilometres per hour in areas as far north as Banff and stretching to the border with Montana.

–With files from The Canadian Press