The National Weather Service is changing its cold weather warnings and messages this week, removing familiar terms like “wind chill watch” and “wind chill warning.”

The changes, coming just as temperatures cool, are part of the National Weather Service’s (NWS) Hazard Simplification Initiative. The initiative has reduced the number of warnings in recent years based on public feedback that the terminology and number of warnings were confusing.

The goal is to emphasize that cold weather can be dangerous with or without wind, said NWS Twin Cities meteorologist Jake Beitlich. The agency said wind chill warnings helped spread the misconception that extreme cold was only a threat when it was windy outside.

As a result, previous arctic air outbreaks that brought temperatures of -25 or -30 degrees did not necessarily trigger wind chill warnings from the NWS.

“We want people to know when it’s getting dangerously cold, either because the air temperature is very cold or because the combination of air temperature and wind is making it very cold,” Beitlich said.

The criteria for these cold warnings vary by region. For the Twin Cities area, an air temperature of minus 25°C or a combination of air temperature and wind would trigger an alert. For St. Cloud and areas to the north, the value drops to 30°C.

“It must be colder if you come north for a consultation than if you are in the central or southern part of the state,” Beitlich said.