City of Hamilton issues cold weather alert for weekend

The City of Hamilton's medical officer of health issued a cold weather alert for Saturday night into Sunday morning.

Temperatures plunged Saturday night reaching -20 C on Sunday morning with a wind chill of -28, according to Environment Canada. A high of –7 C is forecast for Sunday during the day with wind chill of -11.

The city issues a cold weather alert when weather conditions are at or expected to hit –15 C or –20 with wind chill. Around noon on Sunday, the medical officer of health cancelled the alert.

"Exposure to cold weather can be harmful to your health. Wind always makes it feel colder, and increases the risk of frostbite and hypothermia," read the weather alert.

The city asked that people stay indoors during a cold alert ,and recommended people wear dry layered clothing, protect their faces, ears, hands and feet, have warm drinks and avoid arduous exercise.

Recreation centres and Hamilton Public Library branches are available during regular hours when cold weather alerts are in place as warm places, according to the city's website.

The city also has a list of emergency and drop-in shelters on its website.

As part of the city's Winter Response Strategy, they also put out a list of overnight warming spaces.