What is wind chill and what does it really mean?

(Image courtesy of www.weather.gov)

Wind chill is a term we hear a lot these days, but what exactly does it mean?

Meteorologists use the term to measure how cold it actually feels on your skin when the wind is factored in. It may also be referred to as the "feels-like" temperature (comparable to the heat index used during warmer months, which is used to measure what it "feels-like" like when humidity is factored in with the temperature).


The wind increases the rate at which your body loses heat because the wind strips away the thin layer of warm air above your skin. The stronger the wind, the more heat is lost from your body, and the colder it will feel. When the winds are light, it will feel closer to the actual air temperature. This heat loss can be calculated for various combinations of wind speed and air temperature and then converted to a wind chill equivalent temperature (or wind chill factor).

Besides the wind chill feeling colder than the actual air temperature, it can pose dangerous risks to your health. The colder the wind chill, the higher risk for developing frostbite or hypothermia.