Why does weather forecast give “it feels like x degree” then the actual temperatures?
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It’s important information. 95, breezy, and dry is actually not too bad. 95, still, and really humid is miserable.
Because how it really feels should be what you are actually interested in?
Because what we perceive as temperature is not necessarily the air temperature. What we perceive is the rate at which our body dissipates its own body heat. One of the main factors in determining that is the difference between our body temperature and air temperature, but humidity and wind velocity also have a big effect. They factor all of these things into determining what the “feels like” temperature is.
Humidity plays a big role in the temperature we experience. The “Actual” temperature is the temperature of the air itself, but the air is filled with water droplets. Water is significantly better at storing and transferring heat then most of the gases in the air, and so will absorb more of the suns energy. For example, today where i live its 27C (81F) outside, but there is 60% humidity, meaning theres a lot of water in the air. So the felt temperature is closer to 35c (95F).
What you’re referring to is called ‘wind chill’ and ‘heat index’.
Wind chill is how cold it feels when the wind is stripping even more heat from your body by blowing it off you, making it feel colder than what the thermometer says.
Heat index is how hot it feels when humidity inhibits evaporation from sweat to cool you down, which can make it feel hotter than what the thermometer says.
People are generally more interested in what the temperature feels like vs what the temperature actually is.
I often see weather reports with ACTUAL temperatures and then something like “it feels like x degrees” added on. Have you ever heard someone say “yeah, but it’s a DRY heat”.
This means, in VERY short ELI5 that due to humidity and wind, the human body will (or will not) be able to loose as much heat due to evaporation off the skin – thus it FEELS hotter/cooler than it truly is.
lots of other factors – but the gist is the human body doesn’t care about numbers on a thermometer – it cares about how hard it will be to maintain a comfortable temperature for ITSELF. So the “realfeal” is closer to how our body will respond to the current WEATHER (not just temperature).
I left a LOT out – so feel free to expand redditors….
You can go outside on two different 90° days and it will feel drastically different. 90° with 10% relative humidity will actually *feel* like 85° outside; whereas 90° with 65% relative humidity will feel like 103°.
The amount of water present in the air around you determines how efficiently your body can regulate body temperature through sweat evaporation. If there is more humidity, our bodies are less able to lower our temperature by sweating and the heat bothers us more.
Imo because it’s more sensational. They love to yell it’s going to be 5 degrees out! (With real feel). Yes it would feel like 5 degrees outside if you went out without clothing on. In winter… Same thing with exaggerating how hot it’s going to feel outside. The heat one is more usual though since you can’t always take off clothes to cool down and you might not be able to utilize AC.
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