The Extreme Cold Warning issued by Environment Canada on Saturday is likely going to stay in place until Tuesday.
Following a storm that dumped as much as 11 centimetres of snow on Toronto and varying amounts throughout the GTA, the bigger concern now is how we'll cope with the onslaught of -36 C windchills Sunday evening into Monday morning.
Environment Canada meteorologist Steven Flisfeder confirms there is a risk of frostbite and anyone who needs to be outside over the next 36 hours should dress accordingly.
"We start to introduce risks of frostbite around windchills of -20," he told NEWSTALK1010. "As we get towards -30 windchills, it's more of an imminent threat within 30 minutes, and as it gets colder than that, it's even worse."
Getting the homeless off the streets
Officials report that Saturday night, occupancy in Toronto's homeless shelters was at 93 per cent, with outreach staff speaking with 26 people who remained on the streets. Of those 26, two people accepted help and were given shelter.
"We will not turn anybody away," said Todd Orvitz, the city's director of strategic solutions with shelter support housing administration. "We have some additional spaces that we are able to activate should we get even closer to the point of needing that."
"But right now, we continue to have space available for people so anyone who needs to come inside certainly can," he told NEWSTALK1010.
Orvitz said outreach staff are out every single night trying to encourage the homeless to make their way indoors.
"The last few days we've been successful in ensuring that spaces remain available for folks that need them," he added. "Anyone who needs a place, has one."
Burst pipes in schools
Extreme cold snaps are known for leading to burst water pipes, especially for aging infrastructure. And that's a concern for Toronto District School Board staff.
Although there have been no reports of problems yet, TDSB spokesperson Ryan Bird says they're prepared for whatever may happen.
"We do keep an eye on our schools - some of which are quite aging," he told NEWSTALK1010. "When it gets this cold, we typically do have burst pipes here and there. It really does depend on that individual weather event."
"We have staff on standby for something like that [who] can quickly jump into action to address any concerns."
And another concern, he says, is how the bone-chilling temperatures will impact students on Monday morning and afternoon. Bird says for some schools, depending on how well children are dressed and the exact location of the building, may need to keep students indoors all day.
"Typically the rule of thumb is between -20 and -28 range where recess would be shortened and then cooler than that, it's cancelled."
Delays and cancellations
There remain dozens of delays and cancellations at Pearson Airport Sunday afternoon due to weather conditions throughout the eastern seaboard and parts of the midwest.
If you're flying out to Ottawa, Montreal, Halifax, Boston, Cleveland or Chicago, be prepared for interruptions. You can check the status of your flight here.
Billy Bishop Airport is also reporting some delays and cancellations, which you can check here.
Return to normal
The chill will stay firmly seated in the GTA right through Monday evening and into the overnight, with -20 C forecast.
The cold snap should come to an end Tuesday afternoon, with temperatures set to rise to -5 C.
"The temperatures [are] coming up into Tuesday and then we've got some snow that will be coming in for Tuesday night," Environment Canada meteorologist Lisa Alexander told NEWSTALK1010. "Into Wednesday we could have a mix of snow or rain showers."
"It looks like we will actually have some temperatures just on the plus side for Wednesday."
There's another cool down in the long range forecast, but so far, it doesn't appear to be as severe as what the GTA is experiencing at the current time.
- with files from Claude Feig