DCHP-2

wind chill DCHP-2 (July 2016)

• n. & adj. — Outdoors, Science

  a measure of subjective coldness.

  Type: 4. Culturally Significant — During cold weather, the perceived air temperature, as opposed to its objective temperature, depends largely on wind speed. Humans feel warmer on calm days than windy ones. A wind chill index incorporating this effect was created in the late 1930s based on work by two American explorers, Paul Siple and Charles Passel, who coined the term in 1939 (Cheung 2009: 21; see Environment Canada reference). Siple and Passel used plastic containers of water to measure the time required for water to freeze in different conditions during their Antarctic mission in 1945 (Gross 2010: 45).
  However, the original system of measurement created confusion and became obsolete. In 2000, Environment Canada held a workshop on wind chill, which led to further research in the field. In 2001, a new wind chill formula was presented in Toronto that models skin temperature under various conditions of wind and temperature in more effective and realistic ways than the older model. Technically speaking, the current wind chill factor is a different index, which marks a change in meaning. Many Canadians would argue, however, that the term is culturally salient in Canada's colder climate (consider also, e.g. Environment Canada's involvement) and of special importance to the country as a whole (as opposed to only some regions in other countries).
  The frequency chart shows that the term is predominant in the US, with the numbers being much higher than in other countries. Canadian hits occupy second place, which shows the importance of the term in these two countries (see Chart 1).

  See also: humidex  streamer