Minnesotans Will No Longer Need to Brace for Wind Chill Alerts

The wind was BRUTAL this morning! After a few days hitting the 40s, this weather is really smacking us in the face. I know this is how a Minnesota winter is supposed to be but still.

Throughout the winter, we see all different types of weather in Minnesota. And with winter weather comes your usual suspects of alerts from the National Weather Service. But there's one that has been gone for a couple of years now. However, it was so common that it's still strange that it's gone.

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National Weather Service Gets Rid of Wind Chill Watch, Warning, and Advisory

Back in 2024, NOAA made the announcement that they will no longer use the terms wind chill watch, warning, and advisory.

In Minnesota, that used to be a super common alert that you'd see. "Hey, make sure you bundle up, we've got a wind chill advisory." Now, it's really weird when the wind is howling, and the temperatures are bitter cold, but there's no wind chill alert of any kind.

That doesn't mean that type of alert is totally gone, though, they just changed the wording.

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Wind Chill Alerts Are Now Extreme Cold Alerts

NOAA said they changed the wording to simplify and "improve messaging of winter hazards and provide better decision support."

So instead of seeing the words 'wind chill', we now see the words 'extreme cold'. A wind chill watch now becomes an extreme cold watch, a wind chill warning will be an extreme cold warning, and a wind chill advisory will now be an extreme cold advisory.

I get it, you see 'wind chill' and might be confused if you aren't from a cold climate. But you see 'extreme cold,' and you know that it means... well, that it'll be extremely cold.