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Tuesday, May 7, 2024

Wind Chill explainer

Credit: WTHI
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Wind Chill explainer
Wind Chill explainer
Wind Chill explainer

David siple it wouldn't it wouldn't be so bad without the wind!

That's a common midwestern phase... but it's based on science!

Storm team 10 meteorologist david siple explains "wind chill" and why we feel colder when it's windy in the winter.

You'll hear the storm team throughout the next few months reference the "feels like" temperature.

This temperature usually occurs when we have strong wind and cold air.

Now fun fact, the term "wind chill" was coined by an antarctic explorer paul siple in 1945.

He actually came up with the formula to create the wind chill table.

So here is the table.

Essentially what you are seeing, wind speed is on the y axis, and the air temperature is on the x axis.

The stronger the wind, the colder it feels outside.

The feels like temperature really only concerns humans.

Because it's how we interpret the temperature outside.

Our bodies lose heat through convection.

With no wind, that heat stays close to our skin and keeps us warm.

However when it's windy, the moving air breaks up that warm layer.

And this helps speed up heat loss making it feel much colder than it really is.

So when the storm team talks about wind chills, it's probably time to bundle up.

In the wthi studio, i'm storm team 10's david siple.

You'll hear the storm team throughout the next few months reference the "feels like" temperature.

This temperature usually occurs when we have strong wind and cold air.

Now fun fact, the term "wind chill" was coined by an antarctic explorer paul siple in 1945.

He actually came up with the formula to create the wind chill table.

So here is the table.

Essentially what you are seeing, wind speed is on the y axis, and the air temperature is on the x axis.

The stronger the wind, the colder it feels outside.

The feels like temperature really only concerns humans.

Because it's how we interpret the temperature outside.

Our bodies lose heat through convection.

With no wind, that heat stays close to our skin and keeps us warm.

However when it's windy, the moving air breaks up that warm layer.

And this helps speed up heat loss making it feel much colder than it really is.

So

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