Extreme cold warning for Medicine Hat area ends, expert warns of frostbite

He said it can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes of exposure for the risk to be present, and encouraged staying indoors.

“The best way is to limit your outdoor time as much as possible,” he told CHAT News on Monday.

“If you can’t do that, in addition to layering up and wearing hats and gloves and covering exposed skin, you want to make sure that you stay dry, and keep active while outdoors.”

Shelley said that, similar to the risk of frostbite, long exposure to the cold does increase the risk of hypothermia.

He said that the Medicine Hat region was closer to seasonal averages for January, more so than other portions of the province.

Jayk Sterkenburg/CHAT News

Other areas saw temperature anomalies anywhere from three to eight degrees above average for the month of January.

Shelley said that tracking in the shorter term, a weaker system is going to move through the region starting tonight into tomorrow.

He said by Wednesday morning, the region could see upwards of 10 centimeters of fresh snow on the ground.

“We aren’t expecting a significant warm up over the region,” he said.

Shelley said that as we head into early next week, it looks like a secondary push of Arctic air will enter back into the region.

The extreme cold warning remains in place for areas north and east of Medicine Hat as of Monday evening.

Wind chills of near -40 C are expected to continue for some parts of Alberta until the middle of the week.

— With files from Brian Konrad

by Jack Sterkenburg, Eli J. Ridder

Extreme cold warning for Medicine Hat area ends, expert warns of frostbite

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