Toronto is about to have its coldest night in years
This is the perfect time for a Heated Rivalry rewatch
Everyone on the internet is focused on 2016, posting photos from ten years ago, when we still had the Valencia filter on Instagram. (Were we ever so young?) (Also, read this.) But the weather news today has us pondering a different question: What were we doing in January of 2019? Because that’s the last time it was as cold as it’s about to be tonight.
Related: Drivers who block Toronto’s designated snow routes will now be fined $500
A blast of arctic air will cause Toronto’s overnight low to plummet. The temperature is expected to reach minus 22 degrees.
“These cold snaps can be dangerous, and people want to limit their time outside, cover up and check on their vulnerable neighbours, especially the ones without reliable heat,” Environment Canada meteorologist Trudy Kidd told the Canadian Press.
CP went on to provide a scientific explanation for those asking, How can it possibly be this cold? “The polar vortex, circling high-altitude winds that act like a fast-spinning barrier to keep frigid air locked over the North Pole, every so often gets knocked off kilter by big atmospheric waves. When that happens, arctic air can spill south, raising the risk of severe winter weather.”
It should let up a little by Monday, but these utterly freezing temperatures are expected to last through the end of this month, and with the wind chill, the daytimes won’t feel much warmer. So whatever you did to get through the frigid cold of January 2019, get ready to do it again.
Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
