Revised Wind Chill Index (The Development of a New Wind Chill Temperature Chart)

• Main Author: Bluestein, Maurice
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; Antarctic; Canada; The Antarctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/987327; https://www.osti.gov/biblio/987327

It had been known for many years that the original wind chill temperature charts used by the weather services of Canada and the U.S. were flawed. This speaker applied modern heat transfer principles to the Antarctic research that was the basis for the original charts to demonstrate that the temperatures were much too cold. He then proposed an alternative model that would more accurately depict the effect of wind in cold weather on exposed skin. Media attention and an internet conference sponsored in Canada prompted the U.S. Weather Service to initiate a program to update their charts. This speaker and a Canadian researcher who worked with a similar approach were charged with developing a new chart. An algorithm was completed and the new chart was put into effect in Canada in October and in the U.S. in November, 2001.