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A New Wind Chill Chart
It has been said that the only thing constant in this world is change, and now
even the familiar old wind chill chart has been revamped. The old formula for the
chart was derived in the 1940s by a method that noted the length of time required
for a bottle of water to freeze under a variety of wind speeds and air temperatures.
Since little was known about the thermal transfer properties of skin at the time,
the chosen plastic container skewed the results. The old chart yielded a wind chill
factor that was too low - by tens of degrees Fahrenheit in extreme cases. Using
modern methods that involve bringing the skin of human volunteers to near freezing,
a new formula - and new chart - was born in the year 2000. An example: A 20 °F day
with 10 mph wind, now has a wind-chill rating of 9 °F instead of 3 °F.
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