Winnipeg deep freeze as cold as uninhabited planet

In terms of astonishing weather facts, it doesn't get much more impressive than being as cold as a distant planet for a day.

The Manitoba Museum is reporting Winnipeg's temperatures on Tuesday were actually as cold as the surface of Mars.

• HOW IT WORKS: The science of wind chill
• Deep freeze extends from Winnipeg east to Maritimes

According to the Curiosity Rover, Mars reached a maximum temperature of -29 C on Tuesday, a temperature Winnipeg only reached shortly before 3 p.m.

The deep freeze over much of Southern Manitoba prompted extreme wind chill warnings in the area and most of the north.

In Winnipeg, the daytime high temperature for Tuesday was only expected to reach31 C, but the windchill made it feel more like40 to50. That meansexposed skin can freeze in less than five minutes.

On Monday, it got as warm as28 C.

In the northern half of the province, inplaces like Thompson, Nelson House, Lynn Lake, Leaf Rapids and Churchill, thewind chills on Tuesday made it feel like48 to 53.

The entire province was under an extreme wind chill warning on Monday, but it was later liftedin the central portion of Manitoba as well as the southwest and southeast corners.

Some outdoor New Year's Eve activities cancelled

While many of the outdoor New Years Eve activities planned at The Forks will go on as planned tonight, at least one has been cancelled.

The only thing weve had to cancel is the horse-drawn wagon rides, scheduled from 5 p.m. until 9 p.m. Its just too cold for that, said Clare MacKay of The Forks. Everything else weve been able to proceed with, and we have a lot of stuff that happens inside.

The Forks is hosting crafts for kids, a number of bands and fireworks at 10 p.m. Festivities begin at 5 p.m.

Newcomer not dissuaded by cold

A 16-year-old girl from Nigeria hasnt been dissuaded by Winnipegs other-worldly cold. Lynda Okeke-Okoli arrived in Winnipeg just 48 hours ago to attend high school here.

• Winter runners brave Winnipeg's cold snap

It wasnt exactly a warm welcome for the teen, with temperatures hovering below -30 C.

I was just like, God help me! I said, God, please help me. I dont know how Im going to handle this! she said.

She said even advice from her dad hadnt prepared her for the weather. Despite that, plans to stick out in Winnipeg.

Cold, but not the coldest

It's cold but not enough for a record.

The historical mark for this day in history is a rattling37.8C, set in 1967.

Environment Canada meteorologist DaleMarciskisaid the coldest December on record for Winnipeg was set in 1879, with an average temperature of 26 C.

This Decembers average temperature so far is close to21C. That is only about the fifth coldest ever.

The three coldest Decembers for Winnipeg are:

• 1879: 26.0 C
• 1872: 22.6 C
• 2000: 22.0 C
• 1876: 21.8
• 1893: 21.4

Finding the homeless

A downtown organization is trying to find those Winnipeggers who have no place to go, and get them out of the frigid cold.

The Downtown Biz' has volunteers on foot and in vehicles picking up people who need shelter.

We have come across individuals, for example, who have been passed out in back lanes who have consumed too much and it has been as cold as 40 C," said BrendanMalaky, who is with the Biz's Downtown Watch program.

"In some instances, we haven't been able to wake them up, in which casewe call 911 immediately.

Malaky saidthey won't force someone insidebut strongly encourage people to go to a nearby shelter.

First thing we do is assess and make sure that they're alright, make sure their condition is good, make sure they've got appropriate clothing for the weather," he said.

"We're going to get them whatever they're missing and see if we can get them somewhere to stay for the night.

The watch program has200 volunteers and up to 35 staff members working seven days a week.

Operation Red Nose

Even though it's bitterly cold, it's business as usual for Operation Red Nose tonight.

Over the weekend, the service shut down because of the extreme cold but coordinator Sharra Hinton said volunteers will be out in full force tonight, offering free rides for New Years Eve revelers --- even if the cold means a few delays.

It is going to be cold and a lot of vehicles are going to be sitting for quite awhile before they start again so I'm hoping that everything will go OK, she said.

Hinton says calls from 9 p.m. to midnight are answered pretty quickly but things get slower when the calls start pouring in after the ball drops and the New Year arrives.

People are probably looking at closer to an hour, maybe an hour and a half wait with us, she said.