Extreme cold warning issued for all parts of P.E.I.

Environment Canada has issued an extreme cold warning for all of Prince Edward Island.

On Friday, an arctic air mass will combine with strong northwest winds to give bitterly cold conditions.

With the wind chill, temperatures that feel as cold as 35 C to 40 C are expected to develop Friday night and will persist into Saturday morning before beginning to moderate Saturday afternoon as winds subside.

Extreme cold warnings are issued when very cold temperatures or wind chills create an elevated risk to health such as frostbite and hypothermia.

Environment Canada is reminding Islanders to cover up because frostbite can develop within minutes on exposed skin, especially with wind chill.

The agency advises watching for cold-related symptoms such asshortness of breath, chest pain, muscle pain and weakness, numbness and colour change in fingers and toes.

'Dramatic fall' in temperature

CBC meteorologist Tina Simpkin said Islanders will start to feel that cold air coming down from the arctic during the day on Friday, with the wind turning to come out of the northwest around noon.

"The morning will start off around 1, but in the afternoon our temperatures are going to fall back around 15. That's quite the dramatic fall," said Simpkin.

That rapid drop in the temperature could create some icy patches on roads, she said.

The temperature measured at Charlottetown Airport, since 2017, will typically drop below 20 C once or twice in each of the winter months, but in the last six years the temperature never quite hit 24 C. On Feb. 12, 2017 it almost got there, dipping to 23.9 C. The last time a wind chill value below 40 C was measured was in 2004.

The unusually warm January, 6.6 C above normal, could make this cold snap feel that much colder. January was the 18th consecutive monthwhere the measured temperature was above normal, as measured from 1981 to 2010.

Winds are forecast to ease Saturday afternoon, bringing some relief, but the forecast high is just 15 C. The temperature will fall to close to 20 C again Saturday night, with a high of 6 C forecast for Sunday.