freeze on Manitoba

Arctic air puts freeze on Manitoba

CBC – Tue, 18 Jan 7:56 AM EST

A blast of bitterly cold Arctic air has caused temperatures inManitoba to plunge to their coldest levels this winter.

In fact, at one point Tuesday morning, the two coldest places on the planet were Hall Beach, Nunavut, and Thompson, Man.

Both registered a temperature of –37 C. With the windchill factored in, the air temperature felt more like –45.

In Winnipeg, the temperature greeting morning commuters was a teeth-chattering –33.4. At 6 a.m., the windchill factor made it feel like –45 C, although that warmed slightly to –39 C by 7 a.m.

"This is the coldest we've been all winter. On Jan. 15 we were at – 30," said CBC News weather specialist Marilyn Maki, noting, "the normals for this time of the year for the lows would be –23."

That is the forecast high for Tuesday.

The cold has prompted all metro school bus service to be cancelled, although the schools remain open for classes, according to Edith Morissette, a spokesperson for the River East Transcona SchoolDivision.

She was speaking on behalf of all of the divisions within the city.

However, some rural school divisions are still running their buses. A spokesperson from the Sunrise School Division east of the city called CBC News to say their buses were operating.

Meanwhile, homeless shelters are full as people who live on the street seek sanctuary from the dangerous conditions. The Salvation Army is accepting overflow clients in an effort to make room for whoever needs it.

The cold has also caused some strange noises in homes, prompting an increase in calls to plumbers.

Jeff Peel at AA Clean Line Sewer and Drain said all the snow and cold temperatures are causing stack vents on roofs to freeze over. That results in toilets and drains making gurgling noises.

Peel said he has had a 60 per cent spike in calls from concerned homeowners. Most times, the problem can be solved by a twist of the tap.

"Run a lot of hot water either through your kitchen sink, through your bathtub, through your basins. It will pass," Peel said.

"Don't panic. But if it becomes a problem or you start noticing some sewer smell in your house, that's when you should start taking notice of it."

That's when someone might have to venture up to the rooftop, he said. Peel has had a few stacks that could only be thawed by pouring hot water down the vent.

For those people fleeing the cold for a vacation, he suggests having someone regularly run hot water down a drain to keep the stack open.

Homeowners should also keep an eye of their roofs for the snowpack. The weight of all the snow could cause problems, too.

Typically, by the end of January, Winnipeggers have had about 69 centimetres of snow dumped on them, according to Environment Canada. This year, there has been closer to 95 cm.

Ivan Samms at Power Roofing has been clearing some waist-high snow drifts on roof tops.

"It's packed snow, I mean it was hard. It came off in great big chunks as we shovelled it off," he said. But it's not all like that it. It just depends on the house and where it's situated."

Samms doesn't usually start shovelling rooftops until late February or March.