Over the next two days here in Maine we’re expecting some of the coldest temperatures and windchills of the last 50 years. As we say in Maine, it’s going to be wicked cold! It’s going to be so cold that kids will stay inside for recess and we’ll leave the water dripping in our faucets overnight to prevent pipes from freezing. If you’re experiencing some wicked cold weather right now or you’re just curious about it, I have a couple of short lessons to share with you. 

How windchill is calculated:
The windchill is expected to reach -35F tonight at my house. The following video explains how windchill is calculated. The video comes from Presh Talwalkar.

The psychology of extreme weather:
Television news reporters like to use the word “extreme” whenever we have a lot of rain or snow in a short amount of time. Is the weather really “extreme” or is that just our impression of it? The following Minute Earth video takes on the topic of how extreme weather affects our thinking about weather patterns in general. I found the video to be interesting from a psychology perspective. The video is embedded below.