A different approach to wind chill

Abstract

In cold regions, "wind chill temperatures" or "wind chill" are regularly used to suggest how the wind-temperature combination may affect comfort or safety. This concept, based on physical studies, is unlikely to provide the most useful information. Humans have no innate temperature sense, and so their response depends not only on physical conditions and physiological state but also on past experience, how they perceive the environment, and how weather conditions differ from the norm. We present wind chill for one north central American city for the winter months and for three north central American communities for the month of February as a frequency table and as it may relate to human perception of cold. We propose that, for any given community, wind-temperature conditions as they may be perceived and how they relate to the norms for that community might add greater meaning to the numerical wind chill temperature.