Oh, the weather outside is frightful.

And according to the weather experts, it's going to be that way for a pretty long time.

Doug Lundquist, the meteorologist for Environment Canada who's responsible for the Yukon, said today the long-term forecast for this winter is a cold one for the Yukon.

Data predict a 66 per cent chance that December will be colder than average, Lundquist said.

"And as goes December, so goes the rest of the winter.”

The historical average for December is a high of -11 and a low of -19 C, Lundquist said, adding it can feel much colder depending on the direction of the wind.

Yukoners were treated to a real blast of winter this week, with most of the territory being "at or near record temperatures,” Lundquist said.

In Whitehorse, the temperature was in the -20s, periodically dipping below -30. Many residents just north of the city awoke to -40 temperatures Thursday morning.

Historically, the coldest the city has ever been on this date was -37.8 in 1961.

In the communities, things got even colder this week.

Faro broke temperature records twice, on Wednesday and Thursday, when the mercury dropped to -42.5 and -41.1 respectively.

The previous record for those days was -40.8, set back in 1995.

In Mayo, the temperature dropped to -45 late Tuesday and early Wednesday, and that's not a record.

"So I guess, comparatively, it's pretty balmy in Whitehorse,” Lundquist chuckled.

For city maintenance crews, the cold weather means activities like snow removal are in full swing.

The city's equipment is designed to work well in extremely cold temperatures, Brian Crist, the city's director of infrastructure and operations, said Thursday afternoon.

It's only when temperatures hit the -40 range that activities would have to be scaled back to the minimum, he said.

Equipment is kept indoors at the city's downtown storage facility to keep it from freezing, Crist said.

Starting in September, the machines are serviced and the sand is prepared for the streets.

"At any time, at a moment's notice, we can get them out,” Crist said.

Some local businesses have hired on additional staff to deal with the increased business they're seeing from the cold weather.

Jason Anderson, Capital Towing Services' general manager, said this morning calls have essentially doubled, possibly tripled since the cold weather hit.

Many of those calls have come from drivers who forgot to plug in their vehicles or hadn't winterized them yet and were caught off-guard when the temperature plummeted.

With extra staff called in to deal with the increase though, Capital is still able to respond in about a half-hour or 45 minutes of getting a call.

Many of those who've forgotten to plug their vehicles in are now calling cabs to get from point A to point B.

Suzanne Loveng, who works on dispatch for Quality Cabs, said more drivers are now on the road to deal with the busier workload that comes not only from those who have forgotten to plug in their vehicles but also many who would normally walk to their destination.

Loveng said many elderly customers who would normally walk are calling Quality Cabs to get a lift.

A representative with Grizzly Bear Taxi said they too have noticed an increase in calls due to the cold, but they have a large base of regulars as well as contract work that keep them busy already.

Meanwhile, organizers of this weekend's Winterval Festival and Santa parade, set for Saturday, are preparing to keep festive visitors warm.

Activities at LePage park will wrap up at 6:30 p.m. instead of 7, organizer Lauren Tuck said Thursday.

The event will also have fire pits and a warming tent available, she said.

Lundquist predicts growing cloud cover will warm up Whitehorse a little this weekend — but just a little.

He is forecasting temperatures around -25, with some light snow thrown in.

But Tuck says she's not concerned.

"We believe Yukoners have it in them to show winter what they're made of.”

The cold weather has taken the Outreach van off the road until Monday evening.

The Northern Lights School of Dance has cancelled a planned trip from Whitehorse to Dawson City to perform the Nutcracker on Sunday afternoon.

A school representative, however, is in Dawson working on getting some local dancers to perform snippets of the dance extravaganza.

Cold wave postpones Mt. Sima's opening ... see sports.

By STEPHANIE WADDELL

and ASHLEY JOANNOU

Star Reporters