| DOES WIND MAKE THE TEMPERATURE COLDER?
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METEOROLOGIST JEFF HABY
It can certainly feel colder when the wind is blowing. This can give the impression the temperature of the air is colder when it is windier. The
temperature of the air does not change though. What changes is the heat loss from the skin. Wind helps remove the warm air immediately next
to the skin and this causes a feeling of it being colder. The wind chill was developed because of the feeling that it gets colder when the
wind is stronger due to a more rapid heat loss from the body. Windy conditions can cause the body to cool off faster and this can lead to
health impacts such as hypothermia. Although wind can cool the body off due to a more rapid heat loss, the temperature of the actual air
blowing on a person stays the same.
The wind chill effect is so convincing that it can give the impression that the temperature really is cooling. There is a simple experiment
though that can be done to show the temperature does not change. Materials that are needed are a thermometer and a fan. Measure the
temperature of still air in the home. Then monitor the temperature of the air with a fan on high quickly blowing air over the thermometer. The
temperature will remain constant despite it feeling cooler when the fan is blowing.
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