Official NWS formulas, general guidance only. Frostbite and heat-illness risk depend on clothing, exertion, health and duration of exposure — treat the risk category as a starting point, not a personal safety guarantee.
Environmental · comfort & safety

Feels Like Temperature

Wind chill and heat index, from the official NWS formulas.
NWS wind chill (2001) & heat index

Conditions

10°C
actual temperature: 10°C
No significant risk
Detail
Field notes

Reading the risk

How it works

Two formulas, one job

"Feels like" isn't one formula — it's two, switched automatically depending on conditions. Below about 10°C with meaningful wind, the wind chill formula estimates how much faster moving air strips heat from exposed skin. Above about 27°C, the heat index formula estimates how humidity blocks sweat from evaporating, the body's main cooling mechanism. In between, wind and humidity have only a minor effect, and "feels like" is just the air temperature.

Worked example

0°C with a 24 km/h wind feels like about −6°C — noticeably colder than the thermometer, though still short of serious frostbite risk over a short exposure. 32°C at 70% humidity feels like roughly 40°C, squarely in the NWS "Danger" heat category, even though the thermometer reading alone looks merely hot.

Why doesn't wind chill use humidity?

NWS testing found humidity changed the result by less than a degree, so the official 2001 formula leaves it out entirely to keep the calculation simple and reliable — wind chill is driven almost entirely by temperature and wind speed.

Can wind chill make you get frostbite above freezing?

No. Wind chill can never cool human skin below the actual air temperature — it only describes how much faster heat is lost. If the air temperature itself is above 0°C, frostbite from cold exposure alone isn't possible, whatever the wind chill number says.

Why does the heat index formula need adjustment terms?

The core Rothfusz regression is a statistical fit, not a physical law, and it drifts at the extremes — the NWS adds small correction terms for very low humidity (which lowers the index, since sweat evaporates efficiently) and very high humidity at moderate heat (which raises it further).

Is there a wind-chill equivalent adjustment for full sun?

For heat index, yes — NWS notes full sun exposure can add up to 15°F (8°C) to the effective heat index versus the shaded value this calculator produces, since the chart itself assumes shade and light wind.