"Wind chill is a measure of how quickly bodies lose heat when you combine low temperatures with high winds. And wind chill conditions can be dangerous. "The stronger the winds [and] the colder it is, the more likely you are to develop frostbite in a short amount of time or hypothermia," says Jessica Lee of the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center."
"Wind chill is basically how cold the air feels. For example, if the thermometer shows an air temperature of 25 degrees and the wind is blowing at 30 miles per hour, it will feel like it's 8 degrees outside. That's because wind removes heat from your skin as the air blows over you. The faster the wind is blowing, the faster it removes heat from your body."
"The National Weather Service publishes a chart that shows how much wind chill to expect when the air temperature is between 40 degrees and minus 45 degrees Fahrenheit, and the wind speeds are between 5 and 60 miles per hour. The chart above includes thresholds for frostbite, which is when the skin freezes. For example, if the air temperature is 30 degrees Fahrenheit, but there are 50 mile-per-hour winds, the wind chill will be 12 degrees."
Millions of people across the central and eastern United States are experiencing frigid weather and single-digit wind chill values while a storm threatens strong East Coast winds. Wind chill quantifies how quickly bodies lose heat when low temperatures combine with high winds by removing the thin insulating layer of warm air next to skin. Faster winds increase heat loss, making conditions feel far colder (for example, 25°F with 30 mph winds can feel like 8°F). Wind chill can rapidly cause frostbite and hypothermia; charts show thresholds and examples such as 30°F with 50 mph winds producing a 12°F wind chill and frostbite risk within 30 minutes.
Read at www.npr.org
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