It’s going to be a cold start to the weekend across Saskatchewan.

Wind chill values for much of the province are sub minus 40 this morning, forcing Environment Canada to issue an Extreme Cold Warning for most of the province.

Environment Canada meteorologist Brad Vrolijk says a ridge of high pressure is trapping arctic air across much of central and western Canada.

“And it’s bringing temperatures in the minus-30’s with wind chill values in the minus-40 to minus-45 range to much of the southern prairies.”

Vrolijk adds wind chill values at this level make it dangerous to leave exposed skin outside for more than a few minutes. He says things will slowly return to seasonal from here on out.

“The arctic front is right now over western Saskatchewan and that will slowly push eastward over the next two or three days bringing cloud cover and warmer temperatures back to the region.”  (CKRM)