Mother Nature just shattered another one of Hamilton’s longstanding cold weather records.

Temperatures dropped to around –22 C in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. That’s the lowest temperature ever recorded on March 4 since the Hamilton International Airport weather station began keeping track in 1959. And it beat it by a long shot.

The previous all-time low for the city was –17.2 C, measured on that date in 1962.

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The record high for March 4? That would be 15.6 C, recorded on Tuesday’s date in 1974. We aren't close to that one.

Hamilton has remained under a cold weather alert since Feb. 23. The city’s medical officer of health issues the alert any time the current expected temperatures drop below –15 C or –20 C with the wind chill.

But a warming trend is in store for the city for later in the week. Environment Canada expects a high of –6 C and a 60 per cent chance of flurries for Wednesday.

The temperature is expected to inch up even higher into the weekend, with a high of 2 C in forecast for Friday and highs of around –1 C predicted for each of Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

Will the seasonal temperatures last? It may be too soon to tell.