The THWS Index uses humidity, temperature, the cooling effects of wind and the heating effects of direct solar radiation to calculate an apparent temperature.
Although degree-days are most commonly used in agriculture, they are also useful in building design and construction, and in fuel use evaluation. The construction industry uses heating degree-days to calculate the amount of heat necessary to keep a building, be it a house or a skyscraper, comfortable for occupation. Likewise, cooling degree-days are used to estimate the amount of heat that must be removed (through air-conditioning) to keep a structure comfortable. Heating and cooling degree-days are based on departures from a base temperature, typically 65ºF (18ºC).
Here in North Dakota Wind Chill is always a topic of conversation! Wind chill takes into account how the speed of the wind affects our perception of air temperature. Your body warms the surrounding air molecules by transferring heat from your skin. If there’s no air movement, this insulating layer of warm air molecules stays next to your body and offers some protection from cooler air molecules. Wind disperses this layer of warm air, causing the air temperature to "feel" colder. The faster the wind blows, the quicker the layer of warm air is dispersed, and the colder you feel. Above 93.2ºF (34.0ºC), wind movement has no effect on the apparent temperature. Modified Wind Chill calculations between 40ºF (4.4ºC) and 93ºF (33.9ºC) give more intuitive readings for temperatures above the upper limit of the official wind chill formula (40ºF) The result of this modification is lower wind chill values in the above temperature range than using the official formula.
The Heat Index uses the temperature and the relative humidity to deter mine how hot the air actually "feels." When humidity is low, the apparent temperature will be lower than the air temperature, since perspiration evaporates rapidly to cool the body. However, when humidity is high (i.e., the air is saturated with water vapor) the apparent temperature "feels" higher than the actual air temperature, because perspiration evaporates more slowly. Essentially, it is the opposite of Wind Chill.
Dew-point is the temperature to which air must be cooled for saturation (100% relative humidity) to occur, providing there is no change in water content. The dew-point is an important measurement used to predict the formation of dew, frost, and fog. If dew-point and temperature are close together in the late after noon when the air begins to turn colder, fog is likely during the night. Dew-point is also a good indicator of the air’s actual water vapor content, unlike relative humidity, which takes the air’s temperature into account. High dew-point indicates high vapor content; low dew-point indicates low vapor content. In addition a high dew-point indicates a better chance of rain and severe thunder storms. You can even use dew-point to predict the minimum overnight temperature. Provided no new fronts are expected overnight and the afternoon Relative Humidity ³ 50%, the afternoon’s dew-point gives you an idea of what minimum temperature to expect overnight, since the air is not likely to get colder than the dew-point anytime during the night.