Question: I think the people who predict weather try to make us uncomfortable ... No one uses the wind-chill factor in the summer or the heat index in the winter. It seems like a 20-mph wind in 90-degree weather would make it cooler than 90 degrees. Also, high humidity at 30 degrees would be warmer than 0 humidity at 30 degrees.

        Answers: “I'm not aware of any charts available to do that,” says WCPO-TV's Pete Delkus, Channel 9 chief meteorologist. “I suppose some mathematician could come up with something, but what's the point? We give wind-chill factors in the winter because that's when it matters.

NEW FIGURES

Official wind-chill calculations were revised last year by the Joint Action Group for Temperature Indices, including scientists and wind-chill experts from academia and the U.S. and Canadian governments. The new index, compared to its predecessor, used since 1973, calculates wind chill:   • At 5 feet above the ground, as opposed to 33 feet.   • On human skin as opposed to water (a dozen volunteers were tested in a Canadian wind tunnel).   The new chart also includes indicators for the time it takes for human skin to suffer frostbite. (For example, 30 minutes in a 5-mph wind when it's 10 degrees below 0, Fahrenheit). • More details • Current local wind chill

        “There may be a conspiracy, but it would center on people who have too much time on their hands.”

        (We can't be sure, but, after careful thought, the Stupid Desk suspects that might have been a shot at us and our well-meaning reader from Westwood.)

        WLWT-TV's Angelique Frame, Channel 5 meteorologist, confirms more congenially, “We don't really have a (wind-chill) chart that deals with warm temperatures. The same goes for the heat index.”

        But, “we're definitely not trying to make it seem worse than it is,” she says.

        The conversion charts originally were created by the federal government in the 1940s. To come up with a wind-chill or heat-index temperature, actual temperatures had to be lower than 30 degrees or higher than 60 degrees.

        The government didn't extend the charts to cover mid-range temperatures because it was primarily concerned about conditions that could cause health risks.

AS BAD AS IT GETS

What does it feel like when you combine the worst of both worlds (extreme wind and extreme cold)?   According to the updated, more accurate calculations by the National Weather Service, the fastest wind on the chart (60 mph) combined with the coldest temperature (minus 45 degrees) would create a wind-chill factor of minus 98 degrees.   Seriously chilly.

        Wind-chill index is a calculation that describes the combined effect of the wind and cold temperatures on exposed skin. The higher the wind at a given temperature, the lower the wind-chill reading.

        Similarly, the heat index describes the combined effects of humidity and temperature.

        National Weather Service staffers at Wilmington say they don't keep records for Tristate wind chills and heat indexes specifically, but they do remember them reaching beyond 50 below 0 and 105 degrees.

        Whatever the records, “It (temperature adjusting) definitely makes a difference on the psyche,” Ms. Frame says.

COLD COMFORT

Feeling cold? For more comfort, consider insulation (body fat plus clothing) and environmental factors (temperature, wind and moisture). Here are some tips from the National Safety Council and the National Weather Service:   • Try to stay dry and out of the wind when outside.   • Wear clothing in loose layers to add insulation and trap air while letting sweat pass through.   • Outer garments should be tightly woven, water repellent and hooded.   • Caps, hats and hoods can stop half of your body-heat loss.   • Gloves or mittens (experts prefer mittens).   • Heavy socks and waterproof shoes and/or boots keep feet warm.   • To keep in mind: Experts at the Safety Council say a wind chill lower than 20 degrees presents cold-weather risk for most people if they are outside for prolonged periods.

        This might help: An Indianapolis researcher has convinced the government to re-calculate its winter “feels-like” chart, because, he says, resulting wind-chill temperatures were too cold.

        Under the new index now being used, a wind chill that had been reported as minus 39 degrees (0 temperature and 20 mph wind) is now being reported as minus 22 degrees.

        The new wind-chill chart covers temperatures from 40 degrees to minus 45 degrees Fahrenheit and winds from 5 to 60 mph.

        For a look at the chart, go the National Weather Service Web site at www.nws.noaa.gov or call (310) 713-0622.

        If you can't get to a computer or a telephone, but you can somehow measure the temperature and air speed in your back yard, here's the formula for calculating your own wind-chill factor:
       35.74 + 0.6215(T) - 35.75(V0.16) + 0.4275(T)(V0.16).

        T is temperature and V is wind speed. But you already knew that, didn't you?

        If you have a stupid question, send it to Ask a Stupid Question, Cincinnati Enquirer, 312 Elm St., Cincinnati OH 45202; fax: 768-8330; e-mail mpulfer@enquirer.com.

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