Folks planning on having some outdoor fun this weekend, including those at Fernie’s Griz Days celebrations, bundle up!

The winter that keeps on giving doesn’t care that today is the final day of February on the warm side of the Rockies. At a time when spring usually leaves winter behind, winter is returning with another potentially dangerous round of frigid temperatures.

Environment Canada has issued another extreme wind chill warning for the Elk Valley and both Kootenay and Yoho National Parks, as of 10:46 a.m. Feb. 28.

Extreme wind chill values near minus 40 Celsius are expected in those areas tonight.

“A strong Arctic ridge of high pressure has spread cold air into the British Columbia Interior. Brisk easterly wind combined with cold temperatures will produce wind chill values near minus 40 tonight. These extreme wind chill values are expected to persist through Saturday,” Environment Canada reports.

Meanwhile, pushing further west, the temperatures aren’t expected to be as cold, but be forewarned – they’re still not going to be pleasant.

A high of -8 C and low of -24 C is expected Feb. 28 in Cranbrook and Kimberley, while Saturday’s high is expected to be about -16 C with a low of -23 C. Saturday is expected to be sunny but cold, with more seasonable weather anticipated for Sunday and a warming trend heading into next week. However, with the warming trend will come clouds and chances of flurries or rain showers.

Conditions will be about the same in the Columbia Valley, with today’s high expected to be -6 C and low about -28 C. A sunny Saturday is expected to produce a high of -17 C and low of -23 C.

Normal conditions for this time of year are listed by Environment Canada as +6 C for the high and -5 C for the low.

Normal conditions for the Elk Valley are listed as +2 C for maximum temperatures and -9 C for minimums.

Lead image: The Kootenay River in Kootenay National Park, at -26 C. Ian Cobb/e-KNOW

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