Wind chill·-20°C · 20km/h
Feels like
-30.5 °C
Air temperature -20 °C · 20 km/h

-20 °C with 20 km/h wind — feels like -30.5 °C

At -20 °C with a 20 km/h wind it feels like -30.5 °C — 10.5 degrees below the actual air.

Air temperature
-20 °C
Wind speed
20 km/h
Below the actual air
10.5 °C
With barely any wind
-24.3 °C
In Fahrenheit
-22.9 °F
Frostbite in
30 minutes

The air did not actually get colder

Wind chill translates how fast moving air strips heat from skin into a temperature. If the air is −10 °C, water still freezes at −10 °C no matter that it feels like −20 — and so do pipes, radiators and everything else that is not a person.

How long bare skin lasts

By Environment Canada’s scale, exposed skin can freeze in 30 minutes below −28, in 10 below −38 and in 2 below −48. Clothing, damp and wind gusts shift those numbers a lot.

Nearby cells

-20°C · 15km/h → -29.1°-20°C · 25km/h → -31.6°-22°C · 20km/h → -33°-18°C · 20km/h → -28°

Find it by temperature and wind

℃\km/h5101520253035404550
109.88.67.97.46.96.66.365.75.5
87.56.25.44.94.443.63.332.8
65.23.932.31.81.410.60.30
42.91.50.5-0.2-0.8-1.3-1.7-2-2.4-2.7
20.7-0.9-2-2.7-3.3-3.9-4.3-4.7-5.1-5.4
0-1.6-3.3-4.4-5.2-5.9-6.5-7-7.4-7.8-8.1
-2-3.9-5.7-6.9-7.8-8.5-9.1-9.6-10.1-10.5-10.9
-4-6.1-8.1-9.3-10.3-11.1-11.7-12.2-12.7-13.2-13.6
-6-8.4-10.5-11.8-12.8-13.6-14.3-14.9-15.4-15.9-16.3
-8-10.7-12.9-14.3-15.3-16.2-16.9-17.5-18.1-18.6-19
-10-12.9-15.3-16.7-17.9-18.8-19.5-20.2-20.8-21.3-21.8
-12-15.2-17.7-19.2-20.4-21.3-22.1-22.8-23.4-24-24.5
-14-17.5-20-21.7-22.9-23.9-24.7-25.5-26.1-26.7-27.2
-16-19.7-22.4-24.1-25.4-26.5-27.3-28.1-28.8-29.4-29.9
-18-22-24.8-26.6-28-29-30-30.8-31.5-32.1-32.7
-20-24.3-27.2-29.1-30.5-31.6-32.6-33.4-34.1-34.8-35.4
-22-26.5-29.6-31.5-33-34.2-35.2-36-36.8-37.5-38.1
-24-28.8-32-34-35.5-36.8-37.8-38.7-39.5-40.2-40.9
-26-31.1-34.4-36.5-38-39.3-40.4-41.3-42.2-42.9-43.6
-28-33.4-36.8-38.9-40.6-41.9-43-44-44.8-45.6-46.3
-30-35.6-39.2-41.4-43.1-44.5-45.6-46.6-47.5-48.3-49

The first breeze does the most

Going from 5 to 20 km/h drops the felt temperature sharply; going from 40 to 50 barely moves it. The 0.16 exponent in the formula is what bends the curve that way.

How to read this

  • Feels like = 13.12 + 0.6215T − 11.37V^0.16 + 0.3965T·V^0.16, with T in °C and V in km/h.
  • Stronger wind always lowers the number, but each extra km/h lowers it less than the last.
  • The formula applies only at 10 °C or below with wind of at least 4.8 km/h.
  • It is a measure of how cold a person feels, not of the air — water still freezes at the air temperature.

These are estimates. The standard formula assumes dry skin, shade and level ground: sunshine makes it feel warmer, wet clothing far colder, and what you wear matters as much as the number.

Frequently asked questions

Q. What does -20 °C with 20 km/h feel like?

Like -30.5 °C — 10.5 degrees below the actual air.

Q. And with almost no wind?

At the same temperature with a 5 km/h breeze it would feel like -24.3 °C.

Q. Is bare skin safe?

At -30.5 °C it can freeze in 30 minutes — cover ears and nose first.

Q. What is that in Fahrenheit?

-22.9 °F.