AMHERST – One of Bob Silvea’s part-time jobs takes him outside on the coldest days of the year.
“It’s pretty rough,” said Silvea as he stood at an intersection on South Albion Street on Wednesday.
The crossing guard said he wears layers but the wind gets in.
The cold is here to stay – for a while, anyway, according to Environment Canada.
Bob Robichaud, a meteorologist with the agency, said an Arctic air mass has moved into the area and doesn’t look like it will move out any time soon.
“Until early next week, we may see a very slight increase,” said Robichaud.
The temperatures aren’t as low as it may seem when you pop your head out the door ‘sans’ toque. Robichaud said the record for lowest temperature on this date recorded near Amherst was in Moncton: -30.6 degrees Celsius. It was -20 at the Nappan station Wednesday morning, but the average low is -12.
It’s cold but closer to the average than it is to a record low.
Warmer air will start to push in around Wednesday or Thursday next week, with temperatures expected to be close to freezing, and a chance of precipitation. Accumulated snow this weekend looks unlikely, said the meteorologist.
As for the source of the cold spell, the Arctic air mass, it’s been a while since we’ve seen one in Amherst.
“We haven’t (had) these types…here in a couple years,” he said.
According to Silvea, chemical warming packs are his friends. His tip, though, is to get the foot warmers, not the hand warmers, because the former have a sticky side that allows you to attach them in other places.
esparling@amherstdaily.com
