‘Wind Chill’ is Out in Minnesota, Here’s What to Officially Call it Now

For as long as I can remember the wind chill has been a topic of conversation every winter. When it's a brutally cold Minnesota winter day and the wind is howling, the wind chill is something to take note of.

However, the term 'wind chill' is so last year.

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The National Weather Service Gets Rid of the Term 'Wind Chill'

The National Weather Service has officially done away with using the term 'wind chill'. You won't see that term on your weather app anymore and you won't hear the meteorologists saying it anymore.

So what the heck are we supposed to say when we need to alert people of cold and windy winter weather?

Look out, Minnesota, there's a new, hip term in town.

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The National Weather Service - Extreme Cold Alerts

The new term replacing 'wind chill' this winter is 'extreme cold'. I wrote about this update towards the beginning of winter when the change officially took place. However, I wanted to reiterate this change since we have some serious cold going on across Minnesota.

After the cold over the past few days, we'll actually warm up a bit. But then this weekend and the beginning of next week will be terribly cold again. Highs across the state will be in the negatives for Sunday and Monday.

I wouldn't be surprised if we saw this new term used during those days.

The reason the National Weather Service decided to make this change was to simplify their weather alerts. The National Weather Service writes, "These changes seek to clarify that cold can be dangerous with or without wind, addressing a common misconception that extreme cold is only tied to colder temperatures when there is wind."

The way 'wind chill' translates to 'extreme cold' is pretty easy. A 'wind chill watch' is now an 'extreme cold watch', a 'wind chill warning' is now an 'extreme cold warning', and a 'wind chill advisory' is now an 'extreme cold advisory'.

For example: If there's a chance of it being dangerously cold, an extreme cold watch would be issued. If we are currently experiencing dangerous cold, an extreme cold warning would be issued.

With all of this cold, there are certain things you definitely do not want to have in your car. Double-check that none of these things sit in your car when it's cold outside.