LAKELAND - It may feel cold outside, but the Lakeland is still about 10 degrees off being the coldest place in Canada this morning, which happens to be Rabbit Kettle in the Northwest Territories, where it was -52C.
But, a number of school buses have been cancelled for Dec. 21, as the temperature with the windchill dropped to (or slightly below) -40C in the early morning.
St. Paul Education cancelled all buses on Wednesday, and a list of Christmas concerts scheduled for Wednesday have also been cancelled. Some schools opted to bump holiday concerts from Thursday to Wednesday in anticipation of the cold weather, only for them to be cancelled or postponed further.
The school division said it would decide if afternoon buses were running by noon, today (Dec. 21).
Racette Jr. High School and Glen Avon School had already made the decision to postpone concerts until January, while others have yet to decide. A number of Christmas concerts did take place on Dec. 20 across the area, as temperatures began to drop.
Across the Northern Lights Public Schools there were "multiple bus cancellations" including all buses in Cold Lake and the Lac La Biche region on Wednesday morning.
"Schools are open and classes will proceed. Programming may be modified if large numbers of students are absent," according to NLPS.
Within the Lakeland Catholic School Division, many bus routes were also cancelled.
"Most Bonnyville bus routes are cancelled this morning, as well as several Cold Lake and all Waskatenau routes, and bus C53 in Lac La Biche," according to LCSD.
All school divisions encourage parents to contact schools and report their children absent as usual if they are not attending classes today.
The forecast for Dec. 22 is also expected to drop below -40C in the early morning, just ahead of the commute to school.
An extreme cold weather alert is in effect for the entire Bonnyville-St. Paul-Cold Lake-Lac La Biche region, along with alerts for the rest of the province, according to Environment Canada.
"Extremely cold wind chill values of -40 or colder will continue through this week. The coldest wind chill values will occur in the overnight and early morning hours. Some areas may see wind chill values of minus 50 or colder this morning and again tonight," according to Environment Canada, Wednesday morning.
A warming trend is expected by the weekend just in time for Christmas.
"Extreme cold puts everyone at risk. Risks are greater for young children, older adults, people with chronic illnesses, people working or exercising outdoors, and those without proper shelter," according to Environment Canada. "Watch for cold related symptoms: shortness of breath, chest pain, muscle pain and weakness, numbness and colour change in fingers and toes."
