Enter your air temperature and wind speed to calculate the wind chill — the temperature your body actually feels due to wind exposure. Choose your preferred units (°F/°C and mph/km/h/m/s/knots) and get the perceived temperature, frostbite risk level, and a breakdown of heat loss effect.
Wind Chill Temperature
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Temperature Drop
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Frostbite Risk
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Wind Speed (mph)
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Wind chill is the perceived decrease in air temperature felt by the body due to wind. Wind increases the rate at which your body loses heat, making the air feel colder than the actual thermometer reading. The faster the wind, the greater the cooling effect on exposed skin.
This calculator uses the modern NWS wind chill formula adopted in November 2001: Wind Chill (°F) = 35.74 + 0.6215T − 35.75(V^0.16) + 0.4275T(V^0.16), where T is the air temperature in °F and V is the wind speed in mph. This formula applies when temperatures are at or below 50°F and wind speeds are above 3 mph.
The NWS wind chill formula is valid for air temperatures between −50°F and 50°F (−45.6°C and 10°C) and wind speeds above 3 mph (4.8 km/h). Outside these ranges, wind chill is not typically calculated because the cooling effect is negligible or the formula becomes less accurate.
No. Wind chill only affects living beings that generate their own heat, such as humans and animals. Inanimate objects like car engines, pipes, or buildings will not freeze faster due to wind chill — they will only cool down to the actual air temperature, not below it.
Frostbite risk increases significantly as wind chill drops. At wind chills around −18°F (−28°C), frostbite can occur in 30 minutes. At −40°F (−40°C), frostbite can develop in as little as 10 minutes. Below −55°F (−48°C), exposed skin can freeze in under 5 minutes.
Wind chill measures how cold the air feels due to wind in cold weather, while the heat index measures how hot it feels due to humidity in warm weather. Both are measures of apparent temperature — what your body actually experiences — rather than the raw thermometer reading.
Your body naturally warms a thin layer of air next to your skin. Wind constantly replaces this warm air layer with colder ambient air, increasing the rate of heat loss through convection. The stronger the wind, the faster this warm air layer is stripped away, and the colder you feel.
No. Wind chill can only make temperatures feel colder than actual, never warmer. If there is no wind or very calm conditions, the perceived temperature equals the actual air temperature. Wind chill values are always equal to or lower than the measured air temperature.