Bitter Wind Chill For Portions Of New York State?

When will it snow? When we get to Halloween here in New York State, that is a question that many of us have. If you are not prepared for snow at the house yet, you should be. It is that time of the year that we can get snow at anytime.

The cold air is moving in. If you watched any football this past weekend, you probably saw the snow on the ground at the Denver Broncos game. What happens out west, in most cases, will soon drift east and here comes the bitter air.

HOW DO WE CALCULATE WIND CHILL

When it comes to the cold and wind, there are specific ways to calculate the wind chill The wind chill factor is now known by many as the "real feel". Similar to a heat index in the summer that combines the heat and humidity to let us know how hot is feels like, the real feel is a combination of cold air and wind.

According to the National Weather Service:

The NWS Wind Chill Temperature (WCT) index uses advances in science, technology, and computer modeling to provide an accurate, understandable, and useful formula for calculating the dangers from winter winds and freezing temperatures. The index does the following:

Calculates wind speed at an average height of 5 feet, the typical height of an adult human face, based on readings from the national standard height of 33 feet, which is the typical height of an anemometer
Is based on a human face model
Incorporates heat transfer theory based on heat loss from the body to its surroundings, during cold and breezy/windy days
Lowers the calm wind threshold to 3 mph
Uses a consistent standard for skin tissue resistance
Assumes no impact from the sun, i.e., clear night sky.