Canadians are starting the new year under a slew of weather warnings, as snow squalls, fog and freezing temperatures plunge parts of the country into deep winter conditions.
Environment Canada issued a number of yellow weather warnings on Friday, ranging from dense fog in British Columbia to lake-effect snow in parts of Ontario.
Concerns about “near-zero visibility” fog were raised for parts of both British Columbia and Alberta. An area around Prince Rupert had a yellow warning, as did a stretch of Alberta from Edmonton south to the United States border.
“Areas of dense fog continue,” the Alberta alert warned.
“Visibility will intermittently improve, but foggy conditions are generally expected to persist through Saturday. Visibility will be suddenly reduced at times.”
The same part of Alberta was also under a freezing drizzle yellow warning, with concerns about slippery roads and sidewalks.
To the east, Ontario and Quebec also had winter-related warnings.
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An area around Sault Ste. Marie and another along the shores of Lake Huron in southwestern Ontario were both under snow squall warnings.
Near Sault Ste. Marie, Environment Canada predicted roughly five to 10 centimetres of snow through the afternoon and evening, while areas near Lake Huron are expected to receive as much as 15 cm.
“Under the snow squall bands, visibility will be significantly reduced due to the heavy snow combined with blowing snow, and snow will quickly accumulate,” the weather agency said.
Parts of Quebec, including near Quebec City, were warned of frigid temperatures.
A yellow warning near Quebec City said temperatures would drop to -38 with wind chill overnight Friday and into Saturday morning.
“Cold temperatures combined with northwesterly winds will produce extreme wind chill values over these areas,” Environment Canada said. “Extreme cold puts everyone at risk.”
Global News’ chief meteorologist Anthony Farnell said the weather is colder than normal, but not entirely unusual.
“It’s currently colder than normal across most of Canada from Alberta to the Maritimes but certainly not record breaking or anything like that,” he explained. “Also nothing unusual about the amount of warnings in place.”
Next week, he said, warmer temperatures will move in across much of the country.
“The big story is that this cold and wintery weather is going to take a break next week as the pattern changes,” Farnell said.
“Most of Canada will see milder temperatures with Ontario, Quebec and even the Maritimes getting some rain and snowmelt thanks to above freezing air for several days. It’s a big January thaw.”
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
