'Arctic air mass' means another cold weather alert for Hamilton

Bundle up, Hamilton another blast of unseasonably cold temperaturesis in store for the city.

Environment Canada issued a special weather statement on Sunday, warning of high winds, blowing snow and plungingtemperatures for much ofsouthern Ontario.

The agency says a cold front will sweep over the region on Sunday afternoon and into the evening.

Strong and gusty southwesterly winds are expected to develop this morning ahead of the front, Environment Canada said in a statement on its website.The strongest winds are likely near the shores of the Great Lakes, where gusts between 50 and 70 km/h are possible.

The blowing snow will bring the risk of a brief period of near-zero visibilityalong the cold front, the statement warned.

After the front rolls through, an arctic air mass will settle in over the region."

For Hamilton, that means lows of around 20 C and a chance of flurries are in the forecast for both Monday and Tuesday.

Wei Zhang, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, saidtemperatures in Hamilton are expected to bottom out on Tuesday at 20 C. With the wind chill, it could feel closer to 30 C, she said.

Forecasters dont expect temperatures in Hamilton will fall as far as they did on Jan. 7, which sawa low of 24 C.Wind gusts of up to 60 km/hmade it feel as cold as 41 C in parts of the city that day.

• Related: Hamilton sets cold temperature record for Jan. 7

Tuesdays readings also arent expected to break any records; the lowest recorded temperature for Jan. 21 at the Hamilton airports weather station, Zhang said, is 24.7 C, reached on that day in 1984.

The citys medical officer of healthissued a cold weather alert late Sunday morning.

In general, one is invoked when temperatures reach,or are expected to dropbelow, 15 C, or to feel like 20 C with wind chill.

Hamiltonians can look forward to gradual warming in the second half of the week,with lows of 13 C in the forecast for Wednesday and Thursday.