What’s the Difference Between Temperature and Feels Like Temperature?
Have you ever thought, “I knew it’d be muggy today, but not this bad!” If so, you may have been fooled by the temperature vs Feels Like temperature readings!
The typical temperature reading on AcuRite displays and on the My AcuRite website / apps is simply the air temperature reported from the outdoor temperature sensor. It’s the Feels Like temperature reading that reports how the weather will actually feel when you’re outside.
What is Feels Like Temperature?
The "feels like" temperature, or also called the “real feel” temperature, is a measurement of how hot or cold it really feels like outside. The “Feels Like” temperature relies on environmental data including the ambient air temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed to determine how weather conditions feel to the bare skin.
How is Feels Like Temperature Calculated?
Similar to Heat Index, the Feels Like temperature uses relative humidity to help us understand how hot it really feels on those muggy days. Alternatively, on breezy days, the increased wind speed can make it feel cooler outside than it really is. In this case, similar to Wind Chill, the Feels Like temperature uses wind speed to adjust the actual temperature to help us understand how cool the wind is making it feel outside.
Heat Index vs Feels Like Temperature
The Feels Like Temperature is the most convenient to use all year round because it incorporates the weather data and calculations from both the Heat Index and Wind Chill. Wind Chill is usually only a concern in the winter months, while Heat Index becomes an issue during the summer. The Feels Like Temperature can be used year-round as a quick at-a-glance knowledge of what it really feels like outside during any season!
It’s always fun to compare the temperature to the Feels Like temperature to see how much the relative humidity and wind speed affect our perception of temperature. Build your own weather station today to monitor the feels like temperature from the 5-in-1 or AcuRite Atlas™ from either on an indoor display or through My AcuRite for remote monitoring, or both with this Wi-Fi Display!
