It might not feel like winter right now, but it will this weekend.

Toronto’s Chief Medical Officer has issued an extreme cold weather alert with temperatures starting to drop Thursday evening. It could hit -12°C with a wind chill of -19°C overnight, says Gerald Cheng, a meteorologist with Environment Canada.

Cheng told the Star that the wind chill will also “get down to the minus teens on Friday night, but it won’t be -19°C.”

The cold should subside Saturday, when rain and a high of 2°C is expected. Along with that rain will come snow, Cheng said: more than 10 centimetres in Toronto on Saturday, and possibly 20 cm in Barrie and Newmarket.

“After this system, cold air will be back,” says Cheng, with temperatures hovering around -10°C until at least Tuesday night.

The perennial question: is the cold air here to stay?

“For a bit,” Cheng said.

That comes as cold, cold comfort for Toronto residents, who have enjoyed a pretty mild January so far.

Miriam Lafontaine is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Star’s radio room in Toronto. Follow her on Twitter: @mirilafontaine