By Jeff Burbrink
Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County

Jeff Burbrink
Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County

GOSHEN — A few years ago, I recall a conversation about the blustery winter weather, and one person at the table scoffed at the idea of “wind chill,” calling it a misery index. That raised my curiosity, so I did some research on what wind chill is, and what it really means.

I learned that temperature is not the only feature that gives the air that cold nip. Wind can accelerate the loss of heat away from people, animals and objects too. When temperatures drop below 50 degrees and wind speeds are greater than 5 mph, the “feels like” temperature is lower than the actual temperature.

As the wind increases and/or the temperature decreases, wind chill values decrease. This means that despite the thermometer reading zero degrees on a very cold morning, when factoring in the wind (say 20 mph), the increase in heat loss can feel like a much colder temperature (in this example -22 degrees).

That is where the “feels like” temperature idea can be misleading. Extremely low wind chill temperatures can not only chill you quicker, they can also lead to real problems such as frostbite. They estimate frostbite can occur in 30 minutes at zero degrees when there is no wind, but throw in a 50-mph wind, and frostbite can happen in less than 10 minutes when skin is exposed.

Wind chill values are often put into charts, or can be computed mathematically. The National Weather Service has a handy chart.

Even better, the Northern Indiana branch of the National Weather Service posts the temperature and wind chill on their local detailed forecast when you click on your location.

That combination of low temperatures and wind speed is a real and accurate reflection of how we quickly frostbite can occur. It’s best to leave the house prepared with coat, gloves, blanket and stocking cap, lest you be caught by surprise by weather only a penguin can appreciate.