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October 25, 2005
Wind Chill: Overrated
It's that time of year again to be thinking about wind chill. Here is a nifty map. It rarely gets cold in Indiana but I've lived here for ten years and have been wussified, and it does occasionally get windy seeing how the closest windbreak to the west is the Rocky Mountains.
It turns out that the dire warnings we hear about exposed skin freezing in seconds are excessive. We can count on Canadians to do research right:
Volunteers, wearing winter clothing with only their faces exposed, sat in the wind tunnel for up to 45 minutes at a time. They were exposed to various temperatures and wind speeds, with researchers closely monitoring their condition. The volunteers were removed from the wind tunnel when they developed frostnip - a condition where the skin turns white, but only the very superficial outer layer has frozen. If the skin is immediately heated, for example, with a warm hand, this condition can be reversed and the skin is not harmed. Researchers estimate that frostbite, where the skin and underlying layers of tissue freeze, will develop within 30 seconds to one minute after the first signs of frostnip. Using this method, the research team was able to clearly define the level of risk and to provide very precise information on the time it takes for exposed skin to freeze under various wind and temperature conditions.
Here are the results: by wind chill, and by temperature and wind speed. Note that these are metric; for backwards Americans, a table of risk by Fahrenheit wind chill follows:
| Wind Chill (ºF) | Time Until Skin Freezes |
|---|---|
| 32 to -17 | Low Risk |
| -18 to -39 | 10-30 minutes |
| -40 to -53 | 5-10 minutes* |
| -54 to -66 | 2-5 minutes* |
| -67 or colder | less than 2 minutes |
Posted by at October 25, 2005 10:14 AM
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Comments
Yikes. How did they get people to volunteer for that research? "Well, we're going to blow subzero air at your face for an hour and then see if you're frostbitten."
Posted by: Slublog at October 25, 2005 01:02 PM
Canadians will do anything for a beer, eh?
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