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Why do windy winter
days seem so bitterly cold? A winter day with a strong wind
can seem much colder than one with only a mild wind, though
the air temperature may be exactly the same. The effect
that wind has on our perception of cold is called the wind
chill factor. The greater the wind speed, the faster
we lose body heat. Wind chill can make a fairly moderate
winter day equivalent to a much colder one—sometimes
dangerously so. For example, a day with a temperature of
30 ° Fahrenheit might seem of little concern, but combined
with winds of 10 miles per hour, it can feel like it's only
21° Fahrenheit.
Try it yourself. Calculate the wind chill factor for various
combinations of temperature and wind speed using the calculator
below.
Calculate the wind chill
factor
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