Cold air spreading across country will bring messy weather to Ontario, Quebec; heading for Atlantic Canada

Canadians must brace for more extreme winter conditions as frigid air travels across the country over the next few days, creating what climatologists have called a "weather bomb".

The arctic air that started in British Columbia is set to hit Ontario and Quebec this weekend, during one of the busiest travel weekends of the year. Atlantic Canada is preparing for the storm system Sunday.

• EXPLAINED: What is a weather bomb

As the winter storm travels, each province is set to see varying weather conditions from freezing rain to blowing snow and extreme cold.

"It's not the same storm (in B.C.), it's the same cold air," Dave Phillips, senior climatologist at Environment Canada, told CTV News Channel on Tuesday night. "That cold air is going to rush down to Texas and come over to the east."

Storm intensity is measured by central pressure, and climatologists coined the term "bomb cyclone" or "weather bomb" to describe rapidly dropping pressure, creating a shift in storm systems. The technical term for this drop is called bombogenesis, Ryan Maue, a U.S. meteorologist, previously said.

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The winter storm is expected to hit western Ontario on Thursday, bringing periods of freezing rain, then extreme cold and snow.

"No coldest temperature ever, no (record) amounts of snow ever," Phillips said. "But you can still get misery when you combine the fact that you're going to have rain and snow, powerful winds and blowing snow on top of that."

The storm is coming just as many are preparing for holiday commutes this weekend.

"If this occurred in the middle of January we wouldn't be talking about it but because it's happening now it’s going to have an incredible impact," Phillips said. "People are recalibrating their travel plans or cancelling them. It is really an unfortunate situation."

Phillips said Atlantic Canada, which continues to face extreme weather conditions this month, will receive the tail end of the storm with rain, cold and snow expected.

The arctic air started in British Columbia where it brought a double snowstorm that dropped upwards of 30 centimetres of snow earlier this week to the lower mainland. The system is expected to taper off Wednesday morning. It caused mass chaos across the area with multiple car accidents and road closures.

The Vancouver International Airport was at a standstill Wednesday with reports of passengers spending upwards of 12 hours stuck on planes on the tarmac.

"Vancouver is one of the least snowiest places in Canada and yet they've had a year's worth of snow already," Phillips said.

The arctic air forced Calgarians to "hunker down" as Environment Canada issued extreme cold warnings for all of Alberta.

As of Wednesday, the temperatures continue to drop over the western areas of Saskatchewan with Environment Canada issuing extreme cold warnings for parts of the province with wind chill values around -40 or -50 C.

Only Churchill, Man. around the Hudson Bay is under a blizzard warning on Wednesday, according to Environment Canada. On Tuesday most of southern Manitoba was issued the same extreme cold warning as the rest of Western Canada.