Starting this winter, there will no longer be Wind Chill Advisories, Watches, or Warnings. Not because it won't get cold, but because the language the National Weather Service uses surrounding extreme cold events has changed.
Wind Chill Watch will become Extreme Cold Watch
Wind Chill Warning will become Extreme Cold Warning
Wind Chill Advisory will become Cold Weather Advisory
Extreme Cold Watches and Warnings will be issued when the forecast calls for -30° wind chills. The Cold Weather Advisory will be issued when wind chill values of -20° are expected.
The change aims to simplify the messaging surrounding cold weather. This keeps the headline focused on the cold weather, regardless of the wind.
Learn more about the Hazard Simplification Project from the National Weather Service here.
You may have heard some rumors that we're not issuing Wind Chill Advisories any more. The fact is that the names of our 'cold' headlines are just changing for this winter and our thresholds for warning level cold is going from -35F to -30F now. (1/3) #wiwx pic.twitter.com/AWo7pi2JSx
— NWS Milwaukee (@NWSMilwaukee) October 15, 2024
Tim Halbach, Warning Coordination Meteorologist with the Milwaukee National Weather Service, said that in the last 19 years, their office has issued 96 Wind Chill Advisories, but only four Wind Chill Warnings. That averages out to about five cold weather advisories per year, with cold weather warnings being far rarer.
This story was originally posted by Kristen Kirchhaine at Scripps News Milwaukee.