Wind Chill Chart
The full National Weather Service wind chill chart, computed live with the official 2001 NWS formula: find the air temperature down the left side and the wind speed across the top, and the cell where they meet is the temperature your exposed skin actually experiences. Notice the shape of the grid — the first 10 mph of wind does most of the damage (at 0 °F it drags the chill from about −11 °F at 5 mph to −16 °F at 10 mph), while each extra 5 mph beyond 30 adds only a degree or two, because wind chill grows with the 0.16 power of wind speed, not in a straight line.
Wind Chill Chart reference last updated · reference source
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Dated static reference; no live data is fetched. Verify current source values and assumptions before relying on results.
What this tool does
The full National Weather Service wind chill chart, computed live with the official 2001 NWS formula: find the air temperature down the left side and the wind speed across the top, and the cell where they meet is the temperature your exposed skin actually experiences. Notice the shape of the grid — the first 10 mph of wind does most of the damage (at 0 °F it drags the chill from about −11 °F at 5 mph to −16 °F at 10 mph), while each extra 5 mph beyond 30 adds only a degree or two, because wind chill grows with the 0.16 power of wind speed, not in a straight line.
How to use the Wind Chill Chart
- Check Air temperature (°F): 30.
- Check Wind speed (mph): 20.
- Review the Wind Chill Chart result and its exact-value comparison table.
- Verify assumptions before applying the result.
Formula
NWS wind chill: WC = 35.74 + 0.6215·T − 35.75·V^0.16 + 0.4275·T·V^0.16, with T in °F and V in mph (the 2001 NWS / Environment Canada formula).
- temp
- Air temperature (°F)
- wind
- Wind speed (mph)
Valid for T ≤ 50 °F and wind ≥ 3 mph at standard 33 ft anemometer height, adjusted to face level. Wind chill applies to exposed skin of a walking person; objects cool to air temperature, never below it.
Worked example
Wind Chill Chart: Air temperature (°F) = 30; Wind speed (mph) = 20. The full National Weather Service wind chill chart, computed live with the official 2001 NWS formula: find the air temperature down the left side and the wind speed across the top, and the cell where they meet is the temperature your exposed skin actually experiences. Notice the shape of the grid — the first 10 mph of wind does most of the damage (at 0 °F it drags the chill from about −11 °F at 5 mph to −16 °F at 10 mph), while each extra 5 mph beyond 30 adds only a degree or two, because wind chill grows with the 0.16 power of wind speed, not in a straight line.
Inputs
- Air temperature (°F)30
- Wind speed (mph)20
Result
- Wind chill at your values (°F)17.4
- Frostbite guidance (NWS)Hypothermia risk if wet or exposed for long periods
- Lowest value on the chart (−45 °F at 40 mph)-91
- Chart grid18 temperatures × 8 wind speeds
NWS frostbite times by wind chill
| Wind chill (°F) | Frostbite risk on exposed skin |
|---|---|
| 0 to −18 | Low for most people; hypothermia if wet or underdressed |
| −18 to −31 | Frostbite possible in about 30 minutes |
| −31 to −48 | Frostbite possible in about 10 minutes |
| Below −48 | Frostbite possible in under 5 minutes |
Results explained
- Wind chill at your values (°F)
- The 2001 NWS wind chill for the entered temperature and wind speed — the single cell of the chart for your conditions.
- Lowest value on the chart (−45 °F at 40 mph)
- The extreme corner of the NWS grid, anchoring the scale of the chart.
- Chart grid (table)
- The full NWS wind chill chart: rows are air temperature, columns are wind speed, cells are feels-like temperature in °F.
Frequently asked questions
Find the row for the air temperature, then move across to the column for the wind speed; the cell is the wind chill. For example 10 °F with a 20 mph wind gives about −9 °F. This page's table reproduces the complete NWS grid from 40 °F down to −45 °F and 5 to 40 mph, so no interpolation of a printed chart is needed.
Wind strips away the thin layer of warmed air that insulates your skin, so your body loses heat at the rate it would in much colder still air. The NWS formula captures this with wind speed raised to the 0.16 power — which is why the chart's columns crowd together at high wind: doubling wind from 20 to 40 mph at 0 °F only moves the chill from about −22 °F to −29 °F.
The grid uses the current National Weather Service and Environment Canada wind chill formula, adopted in 2001 from trials in Toronto where volunteers were exposed in a refrigerated wind tunnel. It replaced the 1940s Siple and Passel formula from Antarctic experiments, which overstated cooling at high winds.
The NWS bands in the reference table apply: around 30 minutes between −18 and −31 °F wind chill, about 10 minutes between −31 and −48 °F, and under 5 minutes below −48 °F — the bottom rows of the chart, such as −45 °F air with a 40 mph wind (about −91 °F wind chill), are survival situations, not dressing advice.
No. Wind chill is defined only for exposed human skin. A car radiator or a water pipe cools faster in wind but can never drop below the actual air temperature — if the chart says −20 °F wind chill at 10 °F air, antifreeze rated to 10 °F is still fine, though engines reach air temperature sooner.
Above about 50 °F wind feels cooling rather than dangerous and the formula is not calibrated there; below 3 mph the measured effect is within the noise of a person walking (the formula assumes a walking pace of about 3 mph, which is why calm-air readings already include a small built-in wind). The printed NWS chart makes the same choices.