10 replies to this topic

[Weathervane]

Does anyone know offhand the highest barometric pressure record for Birmingham?  

I had a reading of 30.85 inches yesterday & wondered how close we were to a record.

[gaalan]

Mine peaked at 30.80".  My low pressure for the day, of 30.69", was 11" higher than the highest for all of 2007!

[PerryW]

Does anyone know offhand the highest barometric pressure record for Birmingham?  

I had a reading of 30.85 inches yesterday & wondered how close we were to a record.

I've owned a barometer since the mid 1970's, and have seen pressure in the 30.90 to 30.95" range a couple times.  I'm almost certain that's record territory for metro Atlanta (remember those two occasions being mentioned over NOAA weather radio as record high pressure readings at the Atlanta WSFO).

The barometric pressure reached 30.83" at my location on Wednesday........the highest reading I've seen here in several years.

Edited by PerryW, 05 January 2008 - 04:36 AM.

[Tennesseestorm]

@ the airport, ours topped out at 30.79 .....  

Here at my house, the highest I seen it was 30.61.

Still pretty high @ 30.36 and 30.42 @ airport.

[rinato]

please forgive my lack of recall. but what again exactly is barometric pressure. what causes it to rise and fall. I know that low pressure is important w tropical systems, so does high pressure always mean rain free tranquil weather like we've had? Does high pressure aggravate aches and pains, especially old injuries?

[bandit1977]

Barometric pressure, also called air pressure or atmospheric pressure, is the pressure exerted by the weight of air over a given area of Earth's surface. This value is a function of how many molecules of air there are in a specific area, how fast those molecules are moving, and how often they collide. (Molecules are particles made by the chemical combination of two or more atoms.) Barometric pressure is measured by an instrument called a barometer.

At sea level (the level of the ocean's surface used as a standard in determining land elevation and sea depths), where gravity is strongest and attracts the greatest number of molecules, air pressure is greatest. Because gravity weakens as you go up, air pressure is lower at higher altitudes. So while the average air pressure at sea level is 14.7 pounds per square inch, at 1,000 feet (304 meters) above sea...
Low air pressure,causes some people aches and pains. The higher the pressure the better some people feel.

[Drew]

I've had my weather station since 1996, and this weeks barometer reading of 30.86" is the highest I've ever recorded. My previous highest barometer was 30.70" set multiple times.

[CookevilleWeatherGuy]

I checked my Barometric Pressure and found it was 30.85" a couple of days ago on January 3rd.....

For all of 2007, the highest was 30.80 and for 2006, my highest was 30.73...interesting.

[Weathervane]

Well, it took some digging & I finally found the answer....

United States Barometric Pressure Records  


Birmingham, Alabama      

High 30.86     1/6/1924          
Low  29.14     1/11/1918

http://www.extremeweatherguide.com/records.asp

Now I need to find what the "official" reading was January 3rd.

Mark

Edited by Weathervane, 15 January 2008 - 01:18 AM.

[PerryW]

Well, it took some digging & I finally found the answer....

United States Barometric Pressure Records  


Birmingham, Alabama      

High 30.86     1/6/1924          
Low  29.14     1/11/1918

http://www.extremeweatherguide.com/records.asp

Now I need to find what the "official" reading was January 3rd.

Mark

I cant speak for Birmingham, but that website isn't accurate for Atlanta.   For example, it states the lowest and highest barometric pressure readings for Atlanta are 29.08 and 30.79" respectively.   I've witnessed the pressure lower than 29.08" at least three times since 1977........29.07" on January 26, 1978 (this explosively deepening surface cyclone set pressure records from Atlanta, GA to Cleveland, Ohio and Sardia, Ontario), 28.88" on March 28, 1984 (during the infamous "Carolinas tornado outbreak"), and 29.03" on the morning of March 13, 1993 .   On those three occasions, the barometric pressure at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson airport (KATL) reached 29.05".....28.85"....and 29.00"  respectively (the first two occasions setting new all time record low readings for KATL; the January 1978 event breaking the previous record set in 1908......the March 1984 storm shattering the previous record just set six years earlier).   I also know with certainty that the barometric pressure at Atlanta has been higher than 30.79"; I've seen it reach 30.90" here; recall that particular day was also a record breaker for KATL (the WSFO office in Atlanta issued a Public Information Statement via NOAA weather radio to announce the milestone).

If that particular website is not accurate (on either extreme barometric pressure reading) for Atlanta, GA........I have serious doubts as to it's accuracy for Birmingham and many other U.S. cities.

**Here's a NWS Detroit, Michigan report on the January 25-26, 1978 storm which explosively deepened while tracking from Georgia to Ohio, and set a new record low pressure reading for Atlanta (which was broken only six years later by the 3/28/84 tornado outbreak spawning mesolow), then surpassed once again during the "Blizzard of 1993".

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/dtx/stories/blizzard1978.php

Edited by PerryW, 15 January 2008 - 04:19 AM.

[PerryW]

Here's a surface synoptic map from the afternoon of March 28th, 1984.....showing the record breaking surface low pressure still deepening over South Carolina.   As the intense mesolow passed directly over Atlanta only couple hours earlier (was racing ENE at over 60 mph), the barometer bottomed out at 28.85" (which still stands today as the all time record low pressure for KATL).

http://www4.ncsu.edu/~nwsfo/storage/cases/...03288423zsf.gif

Here's a case overview of that particular violent 1984 tornado outbreak (and the synoptic and mesoscale factors which spawned it), from the meteorology department at North Carolina State University and WSFO Raleigh, NC:
http://www4.ncsu.edu/~nwsfo/storage/cases/19840328/

Edited by PerryW, 15 January 2008 - 04:44 AM.