Wind Chill Calculator

Wind chill is how cold the air actually feels on exposed skin once wind is factored in. Wind strips away the thin layer of warm air your body heats around it, so a windy 20°F day feels far colder than a calm one. It reflects the rate of heat loss, not a change in the true air temperature.

This calculator uses the official National Weather Service formula (adopted in 2001): Wind Chill = 35.74 + 0.6215T − 35.75V^0.16 + 0.4275T·V^0.16, where T is air temperature in °F and V is wind speed in mph. It is valid for temperatures at or below 50°F and wind speeds above 3 mph.

Frostbite risk rises sharply as wind chill drops. Around −18°F wind chill, exposed skin can be affected in about 30 minutes; near −35°F it is about 10 minutes; and at −60°F or below, frostbite can occur in roughly 5 minutes. Cover exposed skin whenever wind chill falls below zero.

No. Wind chill only applies to living things that generate heat. Wind makes people and animals lose heat faster, but an inanimate object like a water pipe or a car engine will never get colder than the actual air temperature no matter how hard the wind blows.

The NWS wind chill formula was designed and validated for cold conditions at or below 50°F, where wind-driven heat loss meaningfully increases the risk of hypothermia and frostbite. In warm weather the relevant "feels like" measure is the heat index instead, which combines temperature and humidity.