FARGO — You hear it all the time. What is the perceived temperature? Can you imagine living through a winter without this numerical fixation?
Actually, the Wind Chill Index came into fashion for weather reporting in the early 1970s. Before, we could only add the term “windy” to our temperatures. The original wind chill formula was developed by the US Army in the 1950s for Arctic maneuvers in Alaska. Their science was done hastily and the values it yielded were ridiculously low.
In the 1980s, many meteorologists began calling for a new index, based on more accurate experiments. After extensive testing, the improved Wind Chill Index that we use today was adopted by the National Weather Service in 2001. So if you remember past weather reports showing 80 to 100 degrees below wind chill, you should know that the weather was probably not as cold as the numbers suggest.
John Wheeler is chief meteorologist for WDAY, a position he has held since May 1985. Wheeler grew up in the South, in Louisiana and Alabama, and credits his family’s move to the Midwest as important in developing his fascination with weather and climate. Wheeler lived in Wisconsin and Iowa as a teenager. He attended Iowa State University and received a BS degree in meteorology in 1984. Wheeler worked at WOI-TV in central Iowa for about a year before moving to Fargo and WDAY.