GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Colder air could lead to faster-than-normal snowfall during this week’s Arctic blast.
Although actual temperatures will remain warmer than 10° throughout the event, wind chill values may drop as cold as 25° in places.
Wind chill is how cold it is on exposed skin when the wind carries body heat through the cold. When the wind is not blowing, the air that burns your body stays close to your body. This allows even exposed skin to stay warm.
When air rises, it carries heat away from bodies. The faster the wind, the faster you feel cold.
The National Weather Service formula for calculating wind chill is: 35.74 + 0.6215T – 35.75(V0.16) + 0.4275T(V0.16). Where “T” represents air temperature in Fahrenheit and “V” represents wind speed in miles per hour.
Once the wind chill reaches -20°, it only takes 30 minutes or less for the frost to set in.
Surprisingly, humidity doesn’t affect the overall cooling of the air enough to be considered a factor, but if the skin or clothing gets wet it can reduce the freezing time significantly.
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