Outdoor Safety: Avoiding Hypothermia

The Wind Chill index is the temperature your body feels when the air temperature is combined with the wind speed. It is based on the rate of heat loss from exposed skin caused by the effects of wind and cold. As the speed of the wind increases, it can carry heat away from your body much more quickly, causing skin temperature to drop and hypothermia to come on quickly. When there are high winds, serious weather-related health problems are more likely, even when temperatures are only cool.

The Wind Chill Chart above shows the difference between actual air temperature and perceived temperature, and amount of time until frostbite occurs.