Wind Impact on the "Feels Like" Temperature

It is often very windy in Iowa, and those winds typically cause it to feel much cooler than the air temperature would suggest. In other areas of the country, the wind does not affect the temperature as much, if at all.  The wind in Iowa is often a cold wind that decreases the temperature, while wind elsewhere has no effect on the temperature, or even sometimes is considered a warm wind.

Possible Guiding, Compelling and/or Anchoring Questions

• Why is the “feels like” temperature different from the real temperature?
• How does wind affect the temperature?
• How does the wind/real feel in Sioux Center compare to the wind/real feel of California?

Classroom Suggestions

• Students could: 
  • Go outside on a windy day and take notes on the wind — temperature, speed, direction, etc. — then check the weather app for the air temperature, wind speed and wind chill.
  • Share experiences with wind in other places students have been (places they’ve lived before, vacations they’ve been on, where they live now, etc.) 
  • Check the weather in different places of the world with different wind patterns. Compare the wind/real feel from those locations to Iowa/Sioux Center. Have students share notices and wonderings, and create a discussion around those.
     

Related Resources

• Learning | National Weather Service: A website full of different resources and different links of explanations of wind and how they track wind.

• Weather and Temperature | Weather Wiz Kids: This resource describes different elements of temperature, including wind chill and heat index. It asks and answers some questions that students may have when it comes to temperature. 

• The Weather Channel: This website gives current temperatures and predicts forecasts for the rest of the day. It includes information on what it feels like at the moment and also what is going on across the country.