There’s the temp and then the “feels like” temp. If they are different, how does a thermometer read the real temp and not what it feels like, since it feels like the feels like temp?

Question

I know this title sounds crazy but I don’t know how to phrase my question better

In: 5716

Answer 1

The temperature is how cold your skin can get. The “feels like” temperature is how fast it gets there.

If the air is 10 degrees and your skin is 20 degrees, over time your skin temp will equalize with the air temp. If the air is still 10 degrees but your skin is 5 degrees, then it will warm up to 10 degrees.

As a lot of factors can go into the “feels like” or wind chill temp, it helps to have a single number for comparison. Heat leaves your skin at a given rate for a given air temp. (The math is fun, but this is ELI5) Colder temps suck out heat faster. So, if the air is 5 degrees but there’s a stiff breeze, your skin will loose heat at a faster rate, like it was 0 degrees.

The cool (hah!) bit is that if it’s 0 degrees but feels like -10 and you have windproof clothing then you only need to insulate yourself to 0 degrees, not tp -10. The windproof clothing prevents the wind from carrying away your precious body heat.