New weather warning to be used: Excessive Cold Warning

A year later, my new resolution is to resume posting about the weather in northern Wisconsin. And I have just the news to use in a new relaunch.


Experiment:  Wind Chill Warnings will be replaced by Extreme Cold Warnings

The past criteria for windchill headlines:

• Wind chill advisory:  Wind chills -25º to -39º.
• Wind chill warning:  Wind chills -40º and colder.

At the end of last winter, new criteria will be used in Minnesota and northern Wisconsin in a trial to gauge effectiveness in communicating bitterly cold temperatures to people who work and recreate outside.

The new threshold for this winter:

• Extreme Cold Warning: air temperature or wind chill value below -35º.

I like the idea of illustrating how the human body needs extra protection from bitter cold, whether there is a wind or not, and that threshold for this part of the world has been placed at -35º. 

However, I can see some confusion, especially since this change doesn't seem to have been broadcast widely enough. 

The bottom line reinforced by this change is that 

BITTER COLD = DANGER

So keep an eye out for the new Excessive Cold Warning headline this winter!

As a reminder, here is the chart showing how the lower the temperature and the higher the winds, the less time it takes for exposed skin to freeze.

News article from the Ashland Current:  Weather Service Rolls Out 'Extreme Cold Warning'