Wind Chill at 0°F, 5 mph wind
What 0°F, 5 mph wind actually feels like, using the official NWS wind chill formula. Adjust either value below to try your own numbers.
Feels Like
-11°F
Frostbite is possible on exposed skin within 30 minutes. Cover all exposed skin and limit time outdoors.
At 0°F with a 5 mph wind, it feels like -11°F — about 11° colder than the actual air temperature.
Actual Temperature
0°F
Feels-Like Drop
11° colder
What is a Wind Chill Calculator?
A wind chill calculator estimates how cold the air actually feels on exposed skin, combining the actual air temperature with the cooling effect of wind. Wind strips away the thin layer of warmer air your body naturally holds near the skin, replacing it with cooler air faster than still air would — so a windy 20°F day can feel far colder than a calm 20°F day, even though the thermometer reads the same.
This calculator uses the official formula adopted by the US National Weather Service and Environment Canada in 2001, which was developed using data from actual human trials measuring facial cooling rates at various temperature and wind combinations.
The NWS Wind Chill Formula
Where T is air temperature in °F and V is wind speed in mph. The formula is only defined — and only meaningfully accurate — for temperatures at or below 50°F and wind speeds of 3 mph or higher. Outside that range, wind has little practical cooling effect on how the temperature feels, so this calculator simply reports the actual air temperature instead.
Frostbite and Hypothermia Risk
As wind chill drops, the time it takes for frostbite to develop on exposed skin shrinks dramatically — from roughly 30 minutes in moderately cold wind chill conditions down to just a few minutes in extreme wind chill. Hypothermia (a dangerous drop in core body temperature) becomes a risk with prolonged exposure at any wind chill below about 15°F, and the risk accelerates sharply as wind chill drops further. Layered, windproof clothing — especially covering the face, hands, and any exposed skin — is the primary defense.
Why Wind Chill Doesn't Apply Above 50°F
The wind chill formula models heat loss through convection on exposed skin in cold conditions — it has nothing to do with how hot weather feels (that's the Heat Index, a completely different calculation involving humidity instead of wind). Applying the wind chill formula above 50°F would produce a "warmer than actual" number that doesn't reflect any real physical effect, which is why forecasters simply stop reporting wind chill once temperatures rise into that range.
Example — Your Current Inputs
At 0°F with a 5 mph wind, it feels like -11°F — about 11° colder than the actual air temperature.
Additional Example — A Winter Commute
On a morning with a thermometer reading of 10°F and a steady 20 mph wind, the wind chill formula gives a "feels like" temperature of about −9°F — a 19-degree difference from the actual air temperature. At that wind chill, exposed skin can develop frostbite in as little as 30 minutes, which is why weather services issue wind chill advisories even when the actual temperature alone wouldn't seem extreme.
About These Parameters
- Air Temperature
- The actual thermometer reading, in °F. This is the starting point before wind's cooling effect is factored in.
- Wind Speed
- Sustained wind speed in mph, measured at roughly 5 feet (typical face height), which is the standard the NWS formula was calibrated against. Gusts cause brief additional cooling but aren't part of the standard wind chill calculation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does wind chill affect car engines, pipes, or other objects?
No — wind chill is a measure of how fast living tissue loses heat, not how cold an inanimate object gets. A car, pipe, or thermometer left outside will eventually cool to the actual air temperature regardless of wind speed, not to the wind chill temperature. Wind does make objects cool down to that temperature faster, but it won't push them below the actual air temperature.
Is wind chill the same in every country?
Mostly, but not entirely. The US and Canada jointly adopted the current formula in 2001 after extensive research trials. Some other countries use slightly different wind chill formulas or indices, so a wind chill reported abroad may not be numerically identical to what this calculator would show for the same temperature and wind speed.
Why does the formula use wind speed raised to the 0.16 power?
The exponent 0.16 came from fitting the formula to real experimental heat-loss data rather than from a first-principles physics derivation — it captures the fact that wind's additional cooling effect increases quickly at low speeds but with diminishing returns at very high speeds, rather than scaling linearly with wind speed.