OTTAWA, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- Canada is facing an epic cold weather that has plunged the mercury to record-setting lows, with forecasts calling for daily highs in the minus 20 to 30 degrees Celsius range in major cities, according to Environment Canada Thursday.
Environment Canada Thursday issued a slew of extreme cold weather alerts, saying overnight temperatures and wind chill factors are expected to make it feel much, much colder -- in the neighborhood of minus 40 degrees Celsius in some places.
Those mind-boggling numbers are colder than some of the chilliest places on the planet. What's unusual is how long this wave of frigid air will stay around, said Environment Canada.
Extreme cold weather warnings remained in effect Thursday for the provinces of Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Quebec, while special weather statements warned of temperatures between minus 25 and 32 degrees Celsius in New Brunswick province as the Arctic air mass moved eastward into the Maritimes.
Nova Scotia province was already dealing with a winter weather system that snapped hydro poles and caused widespread outages affecting 158,000 customers.
The province's utility was still working Thursday to complete restoration of power in the province, after the damage from wind gusts of over 100 kilometers per hour that began Christmas morning and continued into Boxing Day.
In Hamilton of Ontario, a 77-year-old man died from hypothermia Tuesday after leaving his vehicle following a crash in Hamilton, according to a CBC report.
In Ottawa, extreme cold forced organizers of the Bell Capital Cup international youth hockey tournament to cancel its outdoor games.
Matches scheduled for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at the Canada 150 rink on Parliament Hill were to be played indoors instead.
Canada's capital also became the world's coldest capital city, due to its overnight temperature of minus 29 degrees Celsius.
Canada Via Rail said the frigid weather had disrupted train service in some areas and cancelled four scheduled trains this week involving stops within Manitoba due to equipment issues related to the extreme cold weather.
