# Wind Gusts, and Wind Chill Factors

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wind-gusts-and-wind-chill-factors/929225>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 30, 2020, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wind-gusts-and-wind-chill-factors/929225 "2020-12-30T06:23:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\
**Post date:** [December 30, 2020, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wind-gusts-and-wind-chill-factors/929225/1 "2020-12-30T06:23:20Z")

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I don’t know about where you live. But where I live, wind gusts are never taken into consideration when calculating the wind chill factor.

And I have to ask why not?

Because it always does it for me. I walk outside. And there is a steady breeze. No problem, I just ignore it. Then a quick gust hits me in the face, and bingo! I really notice that.

So why don’t they calculate it into the WCF?

🙂

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**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\
**Post date:** [December 30, 2020, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wind-gusts-and-wind-chill-factors/929225/2 "2020-12-30T06:38:04Z")

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Because there’s no way to accurately forecast wind gusts, that’s why they’re called gusts. The windspeed might be 20 mph, with gusts of 30 mph. Each one will result in a different wind chill factor.

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**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\
**Post date:** [December 30, 2020, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wind-gusts-and-wind-chill-factors/929225/3 "2020-12-30T13:53:08Z")

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Don’t encourage them. The forecasts already try to glamorize the weather to make it sound as extreme as possible. The opposite is also true - if you’re in a sheltered spot, then no windchill will apply. I think if the forecast just includes the _actual_ temperature and forecast wind conditions, people already have a pretty good sense that if they are standing in an exposed spot the wind will make it feel colder.