Wind Chill & Staying Warm
By Todd Heitkamp, Meteorologist and Owner of Dakota Angler in Sioux Falls,
SD
Think of the last time you went ice fishing, were you properly dressed for the weather? All too often many people are underdressed or wrongly dressed for the conditions. There are things that we can easily do when it comes to properly dressing ourselves or our family to make our next trip on the ice, more enjoyable and safer.
All of us have heard of wind chill before, but how many of us truly understand it. As temperatures fall and the wind howls, we begin hearing about the danger of "wind chill." The wind chill index combines the temperature and wind speed to tell you how cold the wind makes it "feel." Wind chill is an attempt to measure the effect of the combination of cold temperatures and wind on humans or animals. As the wind increases, heat is carried away from the body at an accelerated rate driving down the body temperature, which can be life threatening. Wind chill does not affect inanimate objects such as vehicles as some people still believe. Whether or not your vehicle starts is only related to the actual air temperature. The wind only affects how quickly your vehicle cools to the air temperature.
Low wind chills shouldn't keep you from going out, but they should encourage you to dress properly, however. We know that in the upper Midwest, the wind seems to blow all the time during the winter. In other words, there is always some degree of wind chill, so we need to dress for the season. The best advice for properly dressing in the winter time is to dress in loose, lightweight layers. These layers cause air to be trapped which will insulate the body from the cold. Also, if a person becomes too warm and begins to sweat, a layer can always be removed.
Besides dressing in layers, we need to stay dry. That’s why many companies in recent years have introduced new lines of waterproof clothing, including gloves. A good example of this would be the Clam Corporation. Last year they introduced their Ice suits and this year introduced the Ice Armor gloves. All in an effort to increase our enjoyment, as well as our safety while on the ice. Our extremities, fingers and toes, will usually be affected by the cold first. That’s why we need to wear the appropriate boots and gloves. Many people don’t realize that mittens are actually better than gloves. You may be asking yourself, “why is that?” Well, mittens allow the fingers to keep each other warm, while the gloves separate the fingers allowing them to cool faster. Also a little known fact is that over half the bodies’ heat is lost through the head, so a hat of some sort is always recommended to be worn. Keep in mind not to over-exert yourself. This can easily happen when pulling the ice shack to special location where you know the fish will bite. Sweating form the hard labor could lead to a chill and hypothermia, plus the combination of the cold and the hard labor could cause a heart attack.
To help ensure everyone understands the dangers of the cold,
the National Weather Service issues Wind Chill Advisories and Warnings.
A wind chill advisory is typically issued when wind chills are expected
to be between 20 and 35 below zero. A wind chill warning will be issued
for wind chills that exceed 35 below zero. At these extremes, exposed flesh
can freeze in a matter of minutes. If you have more questions concerning
extreme cold safety measures or the wind chill, please contact your local
National Weather Service office or your county emergency manager. These
may seem like small things, but they are very important to remember that
will make our next trip out on the ice an enjoyable one. Until next month
- Good Fishin’.
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