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.

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.

Is the coldest winter you have ever lived through?