From: utzoo!watmath!kpmartin
Newsgroups: net.misc
Title: Re: Wind-chill factor
Article-I.D.: watmath.2994
Posted: Mon Jul 12 08:09:43 1982
Received: Mon Jul 12 23:16:28 1982
References: rabbit.595

I suspect that people perspire so little in cool weather that the relative
humidity makes little difference. Also, when the cold air is warmed by your skin
the relative humidity drops, since the total capacity for water vapour has
increased.

I suspect that most of the wind chill effect is merely due to the stirring of
the air. In still air, a thin layer of warm air forms over the skin (and
rises to form a plume above you). As the wind increases, this layer becomes
thinner and cooler. So the temperature you feel when it is -10 is not really
-10 unless it is VERY windy; it is probably closer to +10 (celsius). For
high wind speeds, the cooling effect will approach that of a steel block, or
a body of fluid, both of which have higher heat capacity and better
cunductivity than air.