Wind Chill Calculator
Find out how cold it actually feels on exposed skin by combining air temperature with wind speed, using the official US/Canada wind chill formula.
Enter the air temperature and wind speed to see how cold it actually feels on exposed skin.
Wind chill reference chart
| Air temp | 8 km/h | 16.1 km/h | 24.1 km/h | 32.2 km/h | 40.2 km/h | 48.3 km/h | 56.3 km/h | 64.4 km/h |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.4°C | 2.5 | 0.9 | -0.1 | -0.8 | -1.5 | -2 | -2.4 | -2.8 |
| -1.1°C | -4 | -6 | -7.2 | -8.1 | -8.9 | -9.5 | -10.1 | -10.5 |
| -6.7°C | -10.6 | -12.9 | -14.3 | -15.4 | -16.3 | -17.1 | -17.7 | -18.3 |
| -12.2°C | -17.1 | -19.7 | -21.4 | -22.7 | -23.7 | -24.6 | -25.4 | -26 |
| -17.8°C | -23.6 | -26.6 | -28.6 | -30 | -31.2 | -32.1 | -33 | -33.8 |
| -23.3°C | -30.1 | -33.5 | -35.7 | -37.3 | -38.6 | -39.7 | -40.6 | -41.5 |
| -28.9°C | -36.7 | -40.4 | -42.8 | -44.6 | -46 | -47.2 | -48.3 | -49.2 |
| -34.4°C | -43.2 | -47.3 | -49.9 | -51.9 | -53.4 | -54.8 | -55.9 | -57 |
| -40°C | -49.7 | -54.2 | -57 | -59.2 | -60.9 | -62.3 | -63.6 | -64.7 |
Sources
- NWS Heat Index
- NWS Wind Chill Chart
- Dew point calculated with the Magnus-Tetens formula (Alduchov & Eskridge, 1996)
These are general weather calculations based on standard meteorological formulas, not official warnings. For severe-weather alerts, always check your local National Weather Service or meteorological agency.
About the Wind Chill Calculator
Wind chill describes how much colder moving air makes exposed skin feel compared to the actual air temperature, because wind strips away the thin layer of warm air the body naturally holds against the skin, speeding up heat loss. This calculator uses the National Weather Service / Environment Canada 2001 wind chill formula, the current joint US/Canada standard, which is valid for air temperatures at or below 50°F (10°C) and wind speeds above 3 mph (5 km/h) — below 3 mph, wind has little chilling effect on the body. The result is matched against approximate NWS frostbite-time zones, showing roughly how long exposed skin can go before frostbite becomes a risk. Source: NWS wind chill chart (weather.gov/safety/cold-wind-chill-chart).
How to use this calculator
- 1 Enter the current air temperature using the slider or the number field.
- 2 Enter the wind speed, in km/h, mph or m/s.
- 3 Read the wind chill result and the approximate frostbite-risk time for that combination.
How the wind chill formula works
The NWS 2001 wind chill formula is: WC = 35.74 + 0.6215·T - 35.75·V^0.16 + 0.4275·T·V^0.16 where T is the air temperature in °F and V is the wind speed in mph. The V^0.16 term means wind chill drops quickly as wind speed rises from calm, then levels off at higher speeds — a jump from 5 to 15 mph cools the air far more than a jump from 35 to 45 mph does. The formula is only defined for T ≤ 50°F and V ≥ 3 mph; outside that range, wind doesn't meaningfully change how cold the air feels, so this calculator returns the air temperature unchanged. For example, 0°F with a 15 mph wind gives a wind chill of about -19°F, cold enough for frostbite on exposed skin within about 30 minutes.
Frequently asked questions
At what wind chill does frostbite happen?
Frostbite risk rises sharply as wind chill drops. As a rough guide, exposed skin can develop frostbite in about 30 minutes around −19°F (−28°C) wind chill, in about 10 minutes around −35°F (−37°C), and in as little as 5 minutes at −60°F (−51°C) or colder. These are approximate NWS zones — actual risk depends on skin coverage, duration, and individual factors, so treat them as general guidance, not a precise timer.
Why does wind make cold feel worse?
Your body constantly warms a thin layer of air right next to your skin, and still air holds onto that warmth, insulating you slightly. Wind blows that warm layer away and replaces it with cooler air, forcing your body to keep re-heating a fresh layer, which pulls heat out of your skin faster. That's why 20°F with a strong wind can feel far colder, and be more dangerous, than 20°F on a calm day, even though the thermometer reads the same.
Does wind chill affect car radiators or exposed pipes?
No — wind chill measures how fast a warm object, like human skin that generates its own heat, loses heat to moving cold air. Non-living objects like car radiators, water pipes or parked-car engine blocks don't generate their own heat, so they will only cool down to the actual air temperature, not the wind chill temperature, regardless of wind speed.
What is the lowest wind speed wind chill applies to?
The NWS 2001 wind chill formula is only valid at wind speeds of 3 mph (about 5 km/h) or higher. Below that, air movement is too slight to meaningfully strip heat from skin, so wind chill essentially equals the actual air temperature, which is what this calculator shows below the 3 mph threshold.
Related tools
Wind chill is the cold-weather counterpart to the heat index calculator, which shows how humidity makes summer heat feel worse. The dew point calculator shows how humid the air is regardless of temperature, and the temperature converter handles direct °C/°F/kelvin conversions.