Before knowing the use of a wind chill calculator let’s get some idea, what is the wind chill calculation. Human beings, like all other mammals, are able to regulate our body temperature. Thanks to the hypothalamus, a part of the brain that acts similar to a thermostat; when the temperature of the home is higher than the set point, stop the heating so it goes down. When the temperature drops, the human body activates a series of mechanisms to keep warm.
Calculate the windchill on any given day by entering the current temperature and wind speed. The wind chill is the temperature is “feels” like due to the wind.
The organism produces the heat that is needed based on the strong muscular movement permanently forming a thin protective layer of hot air. It surrounds and isolates it from the outside temperature. In the absence of wind, that layer circulates and rises through the body to the forehead.
Again in windy, chilly days, this layer gets displaced and dragged, so it feels colder. The stronger the wind, the more effort the body will have to make to renew the layer of air that is constantly lost. On the other hand, a strong wind separates the heat generated by our body quickly evaporating any moisture that forms on our skin.
So, the calculation of the combination of meteorological parameters between the humidity and the wind is known as wind chill calculation. This can be easily calculated with the help of an efficient wind chill calculator.
How is it calculated and Why Do we Require Wind Chill Calculator?
We will not have the same heat on a day when the thermometer marks 35ºC and a south wind that blows at 20 kilometers per hour, that another day with the same temperature but with no wind a all. Why? Because an entire layer of air, called the boundary layer, is concentrated around the body. The less thick it is due to the effect of the wind, the greater the heat loss.
How to calculate the wind chill?
Finally, the season of snow has arrived. This sudden drop in temperature often becomes the excuse for many cyclists to leave their bike parked for a while and if a little wind is added, the thermal sensation is even lower.
Do you know how to calculate the Thermal Sensation of a windy day? Let’s check it out. When we go out on a bicycle in winter, it is very important to wear sports clothes to combat the cold. In such days, it’s always a matter of confusion to wear a winter jacket or maybe only sleeves and leg protectors.
When it’s a windy day the story gets even more complicated. If on a winter morning, the temperature is 0 ° C and there are calm conditions and we do not feel extremely cold. However, at the same temperature and with a wind of 40 km / h, the thermal sensation is equivalent to a temperature of -15ºC (15ºC below zero).
In the summer, the element that increases the feeling of embarrassment is the humidity. When the humidity is high, the value of the thermal sensation is higher than that of the air temperature. In this case, the thermal sensation reflects the difficulty that the organism finds in dissipating the heat produced by the internal metabolism and we feel uncomfortable. If in the summer the humidity is low, the thermal sensation is lower than the actual air temperature. We feel comfortable because the skin cools more due to greater evaporation of perspiration. When the air temperature is lower than 32ºC (skin temperature), the wind decreases the thermal sensation. On the other hand, if the temperature exceeds 32ºC, it increases the same.
It is a common fact that the outdoor air temperature is not always a reliable indicator to determine how cold a person can feel if exposed to the outdoors. There are other meteorological parameters that influence such as wind speed, radiation, and relative humidity. The term thermal sensation is used to describe the degree of discomfort that a human being feels, as a result of the combination of temperature and wind in winter and temperature, humidity and wind in summer.
There are two factors that accelerate the heat loss of the human body and that definition, the sensation of cold: 1) The thermal difference between the skin and the environment and 2) The wind speed. The continuous loss of heat from the organism depends on the differentiation between the temperature of the skin (32ºC) and the temperature of the environment. This difference is concentrated in a layer of air that surrounds the entire body, only a few millimeters thick called the boundary layer. The smaller the thickness of this layer is due to the wind, the greater the heat loss per unit of time.Paul Siple in 1948, obtained a cooling index. He considered for this a liter of water contained in a cylindrical container at 33ºC. The value obtained by the index establishes the relation of heat lost by the water cylinder as a function of the ambient temperature and the wind speed. This index expressed in Kcal / m2 h is given by:
Index = (10.45 + 10 * Root (V) – V) * (33 – T) (1)
where V is the wind modulus in m / s and T is the ambient temperature.
Once obtained the value of the temperature of the thermal sensation (27º in the example), the possible increase is calculated by the effects of the wind speed. If that day blows a lot of wind (50 km / h) we have less feeling of embarrassment.
Why Use the Wind Chill Calculator?
The aforesaid process clearly indicates how complicated it is to calculate the wind chill accurately. Using an efficient wind chill calculator makes the task easier and help us to get an accurate result with minimal effort. This unique tool helps us to get an idea about the wind chill and the expected temperature due to that. It is always helpful to plan our day accordingly by getting the correct idea about how cold the day is going to be.