What is ‘feels like’ temperature?

Have you ever stepped out of the house in the morning and thought I know it would be cold, but perhaps not this cold!




The temperatures that you normally see on our website represent the temperature of the air, but this takes no account of how we actually experience the temperature. It is our ‘feels like’ temperature that gives you a better idea about how the weather will actually feel when you step outdoors.

Our ‘feels like’ temperature takes into account wind speeds and humidity to assess how the human body actually feels temperature. For example in winter a strong wind can feel much colder than the measured temperature would indicate. Conversely on a humid day in summer it can feel uncomfortably hotter than the air temperatures would suggest on their own. In both instances the impacts of the temperature, wind and humidity can be much greater and the feels like temperature should allow users to make a better assessment of conditions outdoors.

But how do you actually calculate the ‘feels like’ temperature?

We calculate a ‘feels like temperature by taking into account the expected air temperature, relative humidity and the strength of the wind at around 5 feet (the typical height of an human face) combined with our understanding of how heat is lost from the human body during cold and windy days.

On windy days the speed of moisture evaporation from your skin increases and serves to move heat away from your body making it feel colder than it actually is. The exception to this rule, however, is when higher temperatures are concerned. At higher temperatures, wind chill is considered far less significant. Instead humidity plays a greater role. When a human being perspires, the water in his or her sweat evaporates. This results in the cooling of the body as heat is carried away from it. When humidity is high, the rate of evaporation and cooling is reduced, resulting in it feeling hotter than it actually is.

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