It feels colder in parts of Canada than on Mars

On Thursday, the temperature on Mars hit -20 degrees Fahrenheit.

That might have felt positively balmy to some Canadians, who are shivering through a frigid cold snap. This week, temperatures across the country dropped way, way, way below freezing. In Edmonton and Yellowknife, it felt like -40 degrees. Things felt just about as cold in Saskatoon and Regina, located near the middle of the country. In Ottawa and Toronto, it felt like -20 degrees with the windchill.

For comparison: It's about 1 degree at Antartica's Amundsen-Scott weather station. (NB: It's “summer” down there.)  On Thursday, the Mars Gale Crater reached -9.4 degrees, making it feel warmer than Saskatoon, Montreal and Calgary. (At night, NASA's Curiosity rover recorded lows of -112 degrees. So, take heart, Canadians! It's warmer in Canada than Mars in the dead of night.)

In Oymyakon, the coldest continually inhabited community in the world (located, of course, in Russia).
A man walks his dog across the snow-covered beach while a cargo ship sits in the steaming fog of Lake Ontario in Toronto on Dec. 27. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press/AP)
On Thursday, the temperature on Mars hit -20 degrees Fahrenheit.

That might have felt positively balmy to some Canadians, who are shivering through a frigid cold snap. This week, temperatures across the country dropped way, way, way below freezing. In Edmonton and Yellowknife, it felt like -40 degrees. Things felt just about as cold in Saskatoon and Regina, located near the middle of the country. In Ottawa and Toronto, it felt like -20 degrees with the windchill.

[Eastern U.S. to endure most numbing New Year’s Eve cold in memory]

For comparison: It's about 1 degree at Antartica's Amundsen-Scott weather station. (NB: It's “summer” down there.)  On Thursday, the Mars Gale Crater reached -9.4 degrees, making it feel warmer than Saskatoon, Montreal and Calgary. (At night, NASA's Curiosity rover recorded lows of -112 degrees. So, take heart, Canadians! It's warmer in Canada than Mars in the dead of night.)

In Oymyakon, the coldest continually inhabited community in the world (located, of course, in Russia), it was a mere -20 degrees yesterday.

The cold temperatures have wreaked havoc on the country's infrastructure. It's so cold that electric poles are snapping in Nova Scotia, leaving 158,000 people without power. It's cold enough that ice skating has been canceled, and windows are breaking.

A woman walks down the street in downtown Montreal on Dec. 27 as temperatures reached below zero.

As Environment Canada explains, Canada has seen temperatures this low in the stretch between Christmas and New Year's. What is unusual is the amount of time this snap is hanging around. Extreme weather warnings are in effect through the weekend, and a lot of New Year's Eve festivities have been canceled.