The Human Barometer

I've heard people say they know when a storm is coming because they can feel it in their bones. I never paid it much attention. My thinking was, "Yeah, whatever." But, last night I experienced this phenomena first hand. Am I a human barometer? I didn't think so. I never felt aches when the weather changed before. But I'll tell you now I wonder.

I looked into it today. I knew it had something to do with the dramatic drop in barometric pressure. So I looked for a definition of barometric pressure. It is the pressure that air exerts upon the environment - pressure caused by the weight of all the air above the ground pressing down.

I had never considered that gravity pulls air toward the earth like it does everything else. Sad, but true.

The question is: Can people detect atmospheric pressure?

I found that all forms of physical pressure are detectable by humans. Gradual changes in atmospheric pressure are typically undetectable, but severe changes in barometric pressure (changes that occur when weather is changing quickly)can be easier to detect.

As I searched the internet, I found that several conditions affect a persons ability to detect changes in barometric pressure. The most common was arthritis. But others included multiple sclerosis, previous bone fractures, and sprains.

For those of you who weren't reading my blog in October... I had severely sprained my right ankle when I fell off a curb at my college homecoming. And although it's still not completely healed, it's been feeling okay during average use for the past 2 weeks or so. Well, can you guess where I felt the general aching when the barometric pressure dropped dramatically last night and today?

So what does my aching ankle have to do with the weather? Well, most storm fronts are preceded by a drop in atmospheric pressure. And here in South Bend, we've been under a weather advisory for the past 24 hours. This storm ended up bringing in snow through the night and all day. It's getting ugly out there.

Let's continue this science lesson. Precipitation is only possible under certain conditions. One condition which facilitates precipitation is reduction of atmospheric pressure. As a storm front approaches, the atmospheric pressure in the area preceding the front drops considerably. The low pressure front usually indicates a storm or precipitation is coming, and it usually arrives within 24 hours.

As I laid on the couch last night with my ankle aching, I didn't need a meteorologist to give me warnings or tell me about any approaching low pressure fronts. I felt something was about to happen. I have absolutely no idea how accurate my new form of weather prediction will be, but next time I start feeling this ache in my ankle, I'll know we're due for some bad weather.