After weeks of well-above normal temperatures, the pendulum has swung to the other side to begin December.

A deep freeze has begun, with temperatures falling between 10 to 15 degrees below seasonal average.

"It looks like generally, we are going to be colder than average for the middle of December and then potentially moving towards more average for the end of December," explained Environment Canada Emergency Preparedness Meteorologist, John-Paul Cragg. "Overall, our models were predicting average temperatures for the month of December."

"It's going to be hard to get to those average temperatures after seeing this extended period of below average temperatures through this week and potentially next week."

Cragg added that the province has seen every twist and turn of the weather pattern in December, from more milder temperatures, to snow, to raw cold air.

"There has been some snow from a system that passed through a couple of days ago. Some blowing snow, thanks to strong winds that passed through with that system," he noted. "Now, we're moving into a different pattern altogether. We're moving into a pattern where cold, arctic air is floating down into the province and really dropping off temperatures."

Normal temperatures are in the -10 range for a high, dropping to -19 at night. Toss in the wind chill, and the Humboldt area is dropping off to -32 during the day and -33 through the overnight period.

Cragg also noted that snowfall is expected to be above average for a large part of the province throughout winter.