Welcome to Edmonton, your temperature is now a balmy -41 degrees centigrade.  Your face will freeze off in less that two minutes if you are not careful.  Rubber will snap like glass, the snow makes a new sound when you walk on it and if you have not plugged your car in well… enjoy your indoor stay.

Days like today are good for only one thing.  Multiple blankets, cats, hot chocolate (preferably with peppermint schnapps) and a good book and warm radio.

Or you can be like me and have a choral concert to attend to.  *sigh*  The things I do to sing.

Oh hey, I found the windchill chart from Environment Canada posted here in all of its frosty glory.  Make note of the helpful chart at the end we are almost in the red-zone, woo-haa.

*update* – The choral concert was a smash hit!  A 2 minute standing O for us, it was great.  Almost worth the frozen extremities.

Wind Chill Program

Wind Chill Calculation Chart

Wind chill for temperatures from +5 to -20°C
Tair (°C)

V10 (km/h)

5 0 -5 -10 -15 -20
5 4 -2 -7 -13 -19 -24
10 3 -3 -9 -15 -21 -27
15 2 -4 -11 -17 -23 -29
20 1 -5 -12 -18 -24 -30
25 1 -6 -12 -19 -25 -32
30 0 -6 -13 -20 -26 -33
35 0 -7 -14 -20 -27 -33
40 -1 -7 -14 -21 -27 -34
45 -1 -8 -15 -21 -28 -35
50 -1 -8 -15 -22 -29 -35
55 -2 -8 -15 -22 -29 -36
60 -2 -9 -16 -23 -30 -36
65 -2 -9 -16 -23 -30 -37
70 -2 -9 -16 -23 -30 -37
75 -3 -10 -17 -24 -31 -38
80 -3 -10 -17 -24 -31 -38

Wind chill for temperatures from -25 to -50°C
Tair (°C)

V10 (km/h)

 -25 -30 -35 -40 -45 -50
5 -30 -36 -41 -47 -53 -58
10 -33 -39 -45 -51 -57 -63
15 -35 -41 -48 -54 -60 -66
20 -37 -43 -49 -56 -62 -68
25 -38 -44 -51 -57 -64 -70
30 -39 -46 -52 -59 -65 -72
35 -40 -47 -53 -60 -66 -73
40 -41 -48 -54 -61 -68 -74
45 -42 -48 -55 -62 -69 -75
50 -42 -49 -56 -63 -69 -76
55 -43 -50 -57 -63 -70 -77
60 -43 -50 -57 -64 -71 -78
65 -44 -51 -58 -65 -72 -79
70 -44 -51 -58 -65 -72 -80
75 -45 -52 -59 -66 -73 -80
80 -45 -52 -60 -67 -74 -81

where
Tair = Actual Air Temperature in °C
V10 = Wind Speed at 10 metres in km/h (as reported in weather observations)

Notes:

1. For a given combination of temperature and wind speed, the wind chill index corresponds roughly to the temperature that one would feel in a very light wind. For example, a temperature of -25°C and a wind speed of 20 km/h give a wind chill index of -37. This means that, with a wind of 20 km/h and a temperature of -25°C, one would feel as if it were -37°C in a very light wind.

2. Wind chill does not affect objects and does not lower the actual temperature. It only describe how a human being would feel in the wind at the ambient temperature.

3. The wind chill index does not take into account the effect of sunshine. Bright sunshine may reduce the effect of wind chill (make it feel warmer) by 6 to 10 units.

Back to first table
Back to second table

Frostbite Guide
Low risk of frostbite for most people
Increasing risk of frostbite for most people within 30 minutes of exposure
High risk for most people in 5 to 10 minutes of exposure
High risk for most people in 2 to 5 minutes of exposure
High risk for most people in 2 minutes of exposure or less