“October extinguished itself in a rush of howling winds and driving rain and November arrived, cold as frozen iron, with hard frosts every morning and icy drafts that bit at exposed hands and faces.” -J.K. Rowling
As cold as it gets outside over the coming months, particularly with the effect of a displaced polar vortex in play, there’s another factor that can make it feel even colder: the wind. Coupled with extremely cold temperatures, the Windchill factor can exacerbate this tremendously, stripping the heat from your body and putting you at risk of various cold-related traumas.
Collisions with air molecules will lower our body temperature, particularly the colder the air and the faster the wind speed. Image credit: flickr user Steven Pisano under cc-by-2.0.
But the Windchill factor doesn’t necessarily mean that’s the temperature you experience. Windchill is a worst-case scenario for bare, exposed skin walking head-on into the wind with no sunlight impacting you. Even simplistic precautions can help mitigate its effects tremendously.
Emperor penguins huddle together in a large group during the winter, breaking only during the day to enjoy the sunshine. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons user Mtpaley, under c.c.a.-2.5 generic.
from ScienceBlogs http://ift.tt/2hRPokh
“October extinguished itself in a rush of howling winds and driving rain and November arrived, cold as frozen iron, with hard frosts every morning and icy drafts that bit at exposed hands and faces.” -J.K. Rowling
As cold as it gets outside over the coming months, particularly with the effect of a displaced polar vortex in play, there’s another factor that can make it feel even colder: the wind. Coupled with extremely cold temperatures, the Windchill factor can exacerbate this tremendously, stripping the heat from your body and putting you at risk of various cold-related traumas.
Collisions with air molecules will lower our body temperature, particularly the colder the air and the faster the wind speed. Image credit: flickr user Steven Pisano under cc-by-2.0.
But the Windchill factor doesn’t necessarily mean that’s the temperature you experience. Windchill is a worst-case scenario for bare, exposed skin walking head-on into the wind with no sunlight impacting you. Even simplistic precautions can help mitigate its effects tremendously.
Emperor penguins huddle together in a large group during the winter, breaking only during the day to enjoy the sunshine. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons user Mtpaley, under c.c.a.-2.5 generic.
from ScienceBlogs http://ift.tt/2hRPokh
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