Wind chill is bogus
In theory, it sounds good: Combining wind speed and air temperature into one number, intended to indicate the rate a body cools on a chilly, windy day. But wind chill has become so misused and misunderstood as to render it meaningless as a legitimate meteorological value.
Wind chill was created in 1939 by Antarctic explorer Paul Siple, who measured the temperature effects that wind had on containers of water. Those results were later transformed into a complicated formula called the Siple-Passel equation, and the wind chill was born.
Siple’s equation was used until 2000, when it was discontinued because it was found to dramatically overestimate the chill caused by strong winds in a cold environment. The National Weather Service, which officially recognized wind chill in the 1970s, 
performed some tests on the skin of real human beings in simulated wind to come up with a new wind chill formula. In it, the conditions which used to create a wind chill of -40 now result in a wind chill of only -20. Wind chill values just don’t sound as ferocious as they used to.
The whole wind chill idea is flawed. The public (and some broadcasters) say the wind chill is what it “feels like” outside. But wind chill is aimed at determining the effects of wind on bare skin on a stationary person facing into the wind. To say that a wind chill “feels like” -20 assumes that a real person won’t turn their back on the wind, put a hand over their face, or wear a scarf. I assure you that those of us who live in a colder climate do those things (except for teenagers, who don’t let wind and cold interfere with attitude and fashion).
Another issue is that wind chill is generally calculated at the nearest airport. Since there are few trees or tall buildings on air fields, measured wind speeds are higher than in neighborhoods and business districts where people live and work. Again, we don’t “feel like” the wind chill says we do.
But people still love to refer to the wind chill. I guess it makes us all “feel like” we can stand up to the best that winter weather can bring our way. Or give us something to brag about the next time someone says, “Sure is cold this winter…”
