Wind Chill Factor: Definition, Measurement & Impact

[p.tryon]

What exactly is the wind chill factor? Do conventional mercury thermometers measure the wind chill factor?

 

[mgb_phys]

No the wind chill only applies to people - you have to calculate the wind chill from the temperature and wind speed.
There are a few different scales (Navy, US, Canadian etc) http://www.msc.ec.gc.ca/education/windchill/science_equations_e.cfm

 

[Danger]

Thanks for that link, Mgb. I've had a bit of trouble adjusting to the new standard. It sounds so much warmer these days, while I remember it hitting 75° below F. when I was a kid. Now it's like -50 C. and feels the same. Even accounting for the conversion between F & C, the numbers are considerably different.

 

[p.tryon]

Hello
Thank you for your replies. In what ways is a human different to a thermometer, that would mean the former are subseptible to the wind chill factor while the latter are not?
Thanks

 

[gmax137]

The human differs from a thermometer because (1) the human skin is moist, and in the presence of wind, this leads to evaporative cooling, and (2) the human body generates heat, so there is a heat flux from the body surface to the ambient environment. You can "feel" the effect of wind, the idea is that when the wind blows, it "feels" to you like the air is colder. The various wind chill scales (in my opinion) all have their own problems.

 

[tiny-tim]

In what ways is a human different to a thermometer, that would mean the former are subseptible to the wind chill factor while the latter are not?

Hello p.tryon!

A thermometer is the same temperature as what it is measuring, but a human is usually warmer.

(So a human can be insulated by a surrounding layer of air, which the wind can make thinner.)