When I published my first post on Avoiding Migraines Resulting From Changes In Barometric Pressure in 2013, I had no idea how many fellow migraineurs would read, engage, and comment.
“Hi guys, OK so this really does work. I suffered when I lived in Virginia. Moved to Georgia, no headaches, moved back to Virginia, headaches, moved to Delaware, suffered horribly. The worst ever! Found this article, moved back to Georgia, no headaches. I’m so serious, I can live now.” – Kyle
I have been touched by the gratitude shown by many of the readers, and inspired that I have been able to help others–if not with their migraines directly, then at least with a better understanding of one apparently common migraine trigger. Many were happy to see some useful data that could help them understand the barometric pressure characteristics of places where they lived or were considering moving to. Others asked me where I got my data, some wanted to see hourly variation, and many others wanted to see global variation data.
Could u be kind & send me a list of the best worst places to live in Western Europe. I am hoping your list will identify the best place to live in UK I suspect all of the UK will be bad but I am stuck until I can retire & cant move to Spain or Malta until then…Thank u God for guiding me to this site. – Harry
For those who wanted more, this post is for you.
(The Usual Disclaimer: I’m not a doctor, and am in no way qualified to give medical advice. I organized this data for myself and for the benefit of those who believe that living in a place with less barometric variation could be good for their health, so that they could see which cities have more or less barometric variation.)
Where I Got My Data
Although the original data set I used to compile my original U.S. list does not seem to be online any longer, I was able to find a global dataset at the FTP site in the National Climactic Data Center (NCDC) public area of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which contains barometric pressure readings for more than 11,700 weather stations around the world. Downloading all data from 2008 through March of 2016, I constructed a database of over 322 million barometric measurements, many of them taken at intervals as short as 15 minutes. The database size weighs in at just under 10 gigabytes. There’s so much data, in fact, that my first task was to take a sample to see if hourly or every-15-minute data would prove to be more useful than 24 hour data. If I could research global barometric variation using the daily data set, it would really save on computing resources and allow me to publish results much more quickly.
Hourly Variation
I chose 13 weather stations distributed through the world which were in larger population centers (as opposed to weather rafts or remote air force bases), and which had hourly pressure data available since 2008–there were only 476 of these to choose from, the vast majority of them in the U.S. (320) or Canada (129). I then compared the percentage of days per year that experienced my standard migraine-inducing daily variation threshold (a .20 or greater change between 24 hour measurements) with a new hourly variation threshold: a .02 or greater change between any two hourly measurements). I selected the .02 hourly threshold because, like a .20 pressure change over a 24 hour period, a .02 pressure change in an hour occurs at approximately a 20% rate throughout the data set.
Here are the data on hourly variation:
Here are those data plotted for correlation:
Other than the outlier–Denver (which as a high altitude city can expect to have greater measurement error, greater true variation, or both)–it seems reasonable to conclude that daily barometric variation is an excellent proxy for understanding hourly barometric variation.
Global Variation Data
Using daily changes, I was able to construct both a master list and several maps showing the annual barometric pressure variation of the world cities.
Let’s show the maps first, because they reveal some rather amazing patterns regarding barometric pressure variation.
Note: If you want to see the maps in full screen mode, you can click on them to get a full screen slideshow. You can also right-click and then open each image in a new tab, and if you do this, on the new tab you can zoom the browser in to closely examine the a region of interest.
The World
First, you can see that there’s not much red (more than 50% of days reaching the .20 threshold variation is quite rare on this planet), so for the most part, blue means very few days of high pressure variation, green means more days of high variation, and yellowish colors mean a lot of days of high barometric pressure variation. For my migraine patterns, I would live anywhere that is colored dark blue without a moment’s hesitation, and I would not want to live anywhere green and certainly not anywhere yellow. (Anecdotally, my migraines have been at their worst the times I have lived on the U.S. East Coast, and at their best when I have lived in California).
Second, you can see that these variations are almost perfectly related to latitude, with practically zero variation in the tropics, and latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere generally showing lower variation than counterpart latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere. There are some interesting exceptions:
- Coastal California, Portugal, Italy, and the Balkans seem to have considerably smaller pressure variation than would be expected from their latitudes. So these are likely better than expected places to live for migraineurs.
- The United States East Coast has high variation relative to its latitude.
- The United States Mountain Time Zone has very high variation relative to its latitude.
Next, you can review eight detailed zoom-ins on the global map.
North America
The further south, the better, except for California, which is all blue. It is worth pointing out that there is a material difference between Crescent City, in extreme Northern California (12% of days annually cross the .20 threshold) and San Diego (1% of days), just not enough to change the colors on this particular map. (Interested viewers can download the raw data spreadsheet at the bottom of this document for more details.) Also of note, some of the highest barometric variation in the world occurs in North Dakota for some reason.
Eurasia and North Africa
Europe and North Africa follow latitudes pretty closely, with the biggest surprises in the United Kingdom and Japan. Ireland has much higher barometric variation than expected for its latitude. The East Coast of Central Japan has shockingly high variation given that it’s on the same latitude as places with almost no barometric variation like Tel Aviv, Lisbon, and Islamabad. Norway also seems to be a bit worse than comparable latitudes in Sweden or Finland.
Africa and South Asia
Ah, tropical living! Except for the unexpected swath of pressure variation in Coastal South Africa, living anywhere on this map would have you pretty safe from pressure-induced migraines.
Oceania
Oceania follows latitude predictions as expected. Sydney has low variation, Melbourne is moderate, and New Zealand can get extreme on its wild southern end. I have no idea why Sydney and Melbourne don’t show up on this mapping software, where instead we see Newcastle and Traralgon.
South America
Very high and narrow mountain ranges such as the Sierras and Andes seem to throw off latitude correlation. In South America, there is a line of exceptionally high variation on the Eastern edge of the Andes. This is similar to the line of exceptionally low variation on the Western edge of the Sierras in North America.
Western Europe
In Western Europe, there are very few measurements available in Germany for some reason. As mentioned earlier, Ireland and Scotland have shockingly high pressure variation, presumably related to the legendary wind and rainfall in those areas. (In addition to not be a medical doctor, I’m also not a meteorologist. I’m just a guy who gets a lot of migraines when the barometric pressure changes, and I’m happy to know that I shouldn’t ever visit Ireland in January.) I don’t understand the blue dots in the area of Northern Poland and Lithuania, but maybe migraineurs there are getting a little bit of a break. Or maybe there’s some measurement error there.
United States
I’ve written a lot about the United States in prior articles, so I just leave it at wondering this: why does central North Dakota have the highest barometric pressure variation on the planet? If you go about 500 miles due east or west, you get to Duluth/Superior or Missoula, where there’s still a decent amount of pressure variation, but nothing like the worst variation on Earth. Denver is also much, much worse than you would expect. Another case of being on the Eastern edge of a large mountain range? Or perhaps more measurement error?
Canada
Canada is really not a good place for migraine sufferers who are triggered by changes in barometric pressure. The best major cities in Canada seem to be Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal, so at least that covers a reasonable percentage of the Canadian population. Flin Flon, Manitoba seems particularly bad. Yes, I just wanted to write the words “Flin Flon, Manitoba”.
Zero Days of .20 Variation Over 2,000 or More Measurements
For those of you who would like to visit a place that has not experienced a single day of .20+ variation since 2008, and for which we have at least 2,000 recorded pressure measurements since that time, there happen to be 245 such places on this planet. Note that many places between the tropics have certainly had zero days of .20+ variation since 2008, but do not appear on this map because we don’t have 2,000 measurements for those places. This would likely be the case with much of Africa. To get a good look at this map, you can right-click on the map and select “Open image in new tab”, and then zoom in on the image.
The Raw Data
Saving the best for last, perhaps, feel free to download this Global-Barometric-Pressure-Threshold-Variation Excel spreadsheet. It contains the threshold variation percentage for every weather station with at least 50 daily change measurements since 2008, and the spreadsheet tabs provide both annual and month-by-month data. The spreadsheet is 3.5 MB is size, and so might take a little while to download on slower internet connections.
So, for example, if you live in Cape Town, South Africa, you could go to the Annual tab of the spreadsheet, use Control-F to search for “CAPE TOWN”, and see that at the Cape Town International Airport (CAPE TOWN INTL) has 14% of its days throughout the year (51 days) experience a barometric pressure variation of .20 or higher. If .20 pressure variation triggers a migraine headache every time, then a migraineur who lives in Cape Town could expect at least 51 migraines per year while living there. If you want to see whether this varies by season, which it does in every place that I’ve examined, you could go to the January tab, use Control-F to search for “CAPE TOWN”, and see that only 4% of days in January (perhaps one day each January) experience threshold variation. So the summer in Cape Town, as with most places, is a time of much lower barometric pressure variation. Looking at the winter in South Africa, in July, shows that 23% of days in July (an average of 7 days each July) experience threshold variation in Cape Town, which would be problematic for a migraine sufferer with a barometric pressure variation trigger.
This spreadsheet is the best way to see the month-by-month variation for the weather station closest to where you live.
Is there a link to actually get to your map, looks like very interesting data would love to see it.
The maps below are relevant screenshots from the map I created. The interactive map crashed all but the highest powered computer I could find, so I had to be content with screenshots. I have supplied the spreadsheet at the very bottom of the post as the raw data.
TJ, I want you to know your amazingly generous work sharing this touches more than just your fellow migraine sufferers – I’ve had 13 spinal surgeries and have been loosely tracking for years the impact barometric pressure swing has on me and found a direct correlation with pain. It’s never been about the pressure on any one day, instead it’s always been about the variance. The greater the spread, the sooner, longer, and depth the pain goes: However, most interestingly it creates different pain types. I know this doesn’t sound that far fetched or maybe it’s not even surprising but here’s the deal as; lower variances only create localized pain around the damaged parts of my spine, while greater variances trigger symptoms near identical to impinged nerves needing surgical repair, including inability to even walk. I don’t know why it creates the nerve symptoms as I had imaging done early on during one such episode and no physical impingement was seen on the MRI.
Now that I’m medically retired due to the disabilities associated, I have been unsuccessful in looking for data just like this to help me plan where to spend my retirement as I’m of course basing it on the standard deviation of barometric swings. I couldn’t find anything with the detailed level I needed for the data to be helpful until this. See, usually a large enough variance has to happen within 24-48 hours to trigger the harsher symptoms, while a gradual increase of the same amount over 7-10 days will have relatively low to no noticeable impact. Symptomatic impact can occur anywhere from 24 to 36 hours prior to, and up to a 3-5 days post deviation; variances occur of course. So please know your your data collection was the only way I was going to be able to get the information I needed to help locate a region where I have hope of being able to walk each day, which is the gift of physical freedom ~ Cheers mate!
Nice to read of the benefit of kindness and sharing
I grew up in the Chicago IL suburbs. In my late 20’s I moved to central Florida on the east coast. in my early 40’s I moved back to the Chicago IL area. Within 2 years I have had AWFUL migraines. I did know what was going on until my husband pointed out they were all related to the weather/barometer. I tried EVERYTHING to help me and NOTHING has worked. I don’t want to be on meds for the rest of my life. I am MOVING back to Florida. THANK YOU so much for your research!!
I just came back from 5 months in Western Florida and had 1-3 migraines a week. The third day I was home in Maine I got one. i am fed up and frustrated.
On the Reddit migraine board the majority of people in Florida and in particular southern FL have had the most/worst migraines in the thread. Which debunks the map. *sigh*
I live in south east England and migraines are constant. Whenever I go on holiday to Spain or Spanish Islands they are greatly reduced. I’m visiting Mexico soon what is it like there ?
Looking at the map, I would say there is almost no pressure variation in Mexico. If your only trigger is air pressure, then you should have a great vacation.
Where in Spain do you go? I live in the Balearics and I have constant headaches, especially not that winter is coming. I’m considering moving to Portugal.
We have referred to your article countless times JT Taylor. Our son is the poster child for this article. Thank you so much for this information. We recently took a vacation over spring break to test this theory. We live in northeast Indiana.
We traveled through Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida and Mississippi. He never got a migraine once while we were out of the horrible state of Indiana. We were so shocked. He was a completely different kid it was insane. When you feel great you act differently.
We are praying that we can relocate so that our son can feel great and enjoy life to the fullest. I cannot thank you enough for publishing this information.
I sincerely hope your son can get relief from him migraines. I seem to have passed mine on to my son, so I know how it feels to have your child suffer, one of the worst feelings there is.
What a great summation : “ when you feel great, you act differently” !
Something everyone can learn from when observing ( or experiencing) less than optimal behavior.
And with migraines, virtually everything is affected!
Glad your son was able to experience the freedom of no migraines while you were on vacation. Hope you and your family are able to relocate!
Best to you!
This is great. Thank you! Can you tell me anything about Columbia and Charleston South Carolina?
Living in Denver I can confirm the pressure does change as indicated. As a migraine sufferer I have become a better detection device than scientific data and instruments. I did live in Birmingham AL for a year and had a noticed difference in my migraines (I still had bad ones there), having since moved back to Denver they have become daily severe debilitating ones, I have had to take a leave from work (stress increases them also) and am currently looking for better ways to treating them (moving is not an option at this point ).
I find your information great and validating. Thanks for doing so much research to help others.
I have been looking for this for 20 years. I truly cannot thank you enough. I had to move from Gunnison, CO, elev 7800. It was a wise move. So grateful to you for your research and expertise. And so thankful to have found you!
Nice study and presentation. When I grew up in California I never got headaches but when we were stationed in Adak, Alaska I got headaches all the time. One day I was looking at our barometer in the house and came to the conclusion that when the barometric pressure changed by a large amount I got a headache. Glad to see that there is a study done that proves that exact hypothesis.
I have a few ideas about the outliers.
North Dakota is in the sweet spot for experiencing polar jet stream changes. This plays havoc with the weather.
Southern California’s weather is steadied by the warm ocean.
The same forces that created tornado alley fiddle with the barometric pressures of the Great Plains.
Denver suffers from being on the edge of the mountains, the edge of the plains, and the edge of the Jet Stream.
Thanks for the excellent work. Statisticians everywhere are proud of you.
Interesting. Thank you! Unfortunately from Ireland grrrr
I am an Australian ( Sydney) and my son aged 21, who is non verbal and has Autism (ASD) from his MMR vaccination ( immediate adverse response) . He has an extremely sensitive brain response to variations in barometric pressure (BP) as well as radio wave towers. He has agonising migraines from BP changes exceeding 5hPa= 0.15″ Hg in 5 hours , or 10hPa = 0.3″ Hg over 48 hours. To ‘lessen’ the migraine pain, he pounds his head against the wall and with his fists. He never does this except when having a migraine. Its becoming life threatening, but almost all neurologists know NOTHING about BP induced migraines. The Australian Bureau of Meterology( ABOM) have not analysed their BP data to determine which Australian cities are the most stable BP cities ( SBPC). I can buy their data , but dont have software to analyse the data to calculate the ?? standard deviations ?? of BP variations ( daily/hourly) . Once I determine the most SBPC in Australia, we are moving there, or if we find say Hawaii USA is THE most SBPC, the we shall move there. MR JT TAYLOR, THANK YOU SOOO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR PUBLISHED ANALYSIS, ( eg Global Barometric Variation – Annual Maps and Monthly Raw Data ) . CAN YOU PLEASE TELL ME WHAT MATHEMATICAL ANALYSIS YOU USED TO ANALYSE THE BP DATA? I would publish the analysis for all the Australian cities on this blog / web site.
Thanks . John Mitchell.
I am in Seattle USA on medicals for my son, and today 3 to 4 April 2016, we had a 18 hPa ( 0.53 inch Mercury) continuous rise in 27 hours and my son’s response was a tonic-colonic seizure.
Hi, John. My analysis steps were:
1) Gather all data from NOAA FTP site for all 25,000+ global weather stations, 2008-2016
2) Eliminate stations with measurements occurring less frequently than daily
3) After verifying very high correlation between hourly and daily data, delete all measurements after the first measurement of each day UTC time (this got the data small enough where I could run queries that would finish in 12 hours instead of 12 days)
4) Calculate, for each day for each weather station, whether 24 hour change was at least .20″ Hg in either direction
5) Create maps and spreadsheet based on the percentage of 24 hour measurements that differed at least .20 Hg from the prior day’s measurement
After working with two different data sets over the last two years, I would be very surprised if the map was much different whether analyzing .15″ change over 5 hours, .20″ change over 24 hours, or .30″ change over 48 hours.
I also have edited my post to include a map of zero-variation locations, which sound like they could be helpful for your son–this map appears towards the bottom of the post.
Hi John,
I’m just seeing this post now. And to me it sounds like your son doesn’t have migraines but cluster headaches. Cluster headache is more common in men than women, and banging your head or fists against the wall is a very common symptom. Normally with migraine any movement would hurt more! Injections of imigran & pure oxygen inhaled at 10liters a minute through a non-rebreather mask can abort an attack. Please find a neurologists specialised in headaches, they are out there! Also, cluster headaches can be related to air pressure – that’s why I was looking at this website 🙂 Hope this information helps you out!
The best of luck with your son!
This map is great for anyone who has migraines that are triggered by a specific a level of barometic pressure which stays pretty constant, but in my case it is the rapid change in pressure caused by quick passing storms that trigger my attacks. I used to live in England and rarely had migraine attacks, it wasn’t until I moved to Florida I started having problems. If sudden temporary changes in barometric pressure don’t really trigger a migraine for a sufferer then yes Florida is a great place to be as most of the time the pressure is great. However, for migraine sufferers like me it is the massive sudden changes the storms bring that triggers our migraines. In Florida Barometric pressure basically rollercoasters during our typical daily thunderstorm (which pretty much start to crank up in March and then pretty much happen daily until late October). The pressure rapidly changes and then returns back to normal within a couple of hours. In my case I need the barometric pressure to remain as constant as possible. This explains why my migraines got progressively worse when I moved to Florida, even though the pressure is ranked worse in England by the map at least it was reasonably steady. So if the average level of pressure is a trigger this map help. However, for sufferers like me, where abrupt changes in barometric pressure are the migraine trigger the map is not helpful, as the issue is more complicated.
Yes!! That is my situation exactly! I live in Georgia and between 2-3 every day from April until October, I am prone to a migraine due to rapidly changing pressure readings and “summer/afternoon showers”. It is agonizing! I also need for the pressure to remain as constant as possible…if that’s possible. Right now, I think I could be a weatherman/person myself. I hope you find relief soon. I’m very thankful for this research and for all the time and effort you have put into presenting it so well.
Yes, I can relate to the effects of rapid changes!
While I do experience migraines with unstable barometric changes, thenworst are the rapidly occurring changes. Like in Dallas Texas – where you can experience 3 seasons in a day and there is nothing between the here and the North Pole but a barbed wire fence so it feels like everything blows thru here ( hooray for allergy induced migraines on to of BP migraines! )
Like so many others, thanks for sharing your personal experiences and a HUGE thanks to JT for compiling – and updating – all this data.
Looking for my sweet spot to live a healthier happier life.
Will probably go back to NYC where they were mostly episodic and mostly between the change from winter to spring and find some way to escape to Coastal Spain or Italy during that time.
Hello, this is what happens to me in the Balearics. I am from Guatemala and I went for two months recently, i figure out that I also need the pressure to be as constant as possible, only had a few migraines while there. I’m looking into moving to Portugal maybe, still trying to figure it out!
Thank you for this in-depth information.
Migraine and Meniere’s have many of the same triggers. Many people with Meniere’s disease are affected by barometric changes that trigger vertigo, ear fullness and tinnitus. Knowing good and bad location based on barometric change is very helpful to us. So many thanks for your efforts.
I’m stunned by the response about both vertigo and migraine association. I moved from San Diego to Virginia 15 years ago Gradually allergies worsened and previously diagnosed ” sinus infections” did aas well and are now called migraines and are obviously connected with pressure variation. I was recently diagnosed with VPPD a kind of vertigo. SAN Diego looks better than ever. Just wish our house there hadn’t tripled in value. May have to go back and find a tiny healthy place. Thanks so much for your work.
Hi JT Its Harry from UK
Thanks Buddy, sending u a big hug from Barometric Badlands of the British Isles.
U can visit in September its gorgeous here during that month but never visit in winter or spring. If u visit there will be a delicious pizza or fish & chips waiting for u
I’m a big fan of British fish and chips. I’ll let you know next time I’m coming through!
JT, this is so invaluable and much dedication has clearly gone into this. I’m currently studying the affects and changes of BP with my migraines and Meniere’s as part of my daily log now and am definitely starting to see a pattern more debilitating, challenging days when the BP increases. I’m in Vancouver, Canada and I have to disagree with the notation about it being one of the more steadier BP cities. We get a lot of rain here too so that doesn’t help either.
Thanks again for all of your work here and sharing it with us!
Karen Buder
The impression I meant to leave readers with about Canada was the first sentence: “Canada is really not a good place for migraine sufferers who are triggered by changes in barometric pressure”. Maybe I should have written the word “really” twice or three times. There’s just a ton of air pressure variation all throughout Canada, as you would expect given its latitude. But to me the data indicate that it’s clearly better to live in Vancouver than in Flin Flon, just as it’s clearly better to live anywhere less than 30 degrees latitude than in Vancouver.
Thank you for this information. I suffer from joint pain when barometric pressure is low. When it’s high, my pain is nearly nonexistent. I have wondered what’s parts of the world have typically higher barometric pressure. In the tropics perhaps? Do you have general data on that? Thank you.
I’ve seen some maps of this, I think pressure levels and more thoroughly studied than pressure variation. Here’s one map (from the same data source I used):
https://www.e-education.psu.edu/earth103/sites/www.e-education.psu.edu.earth103/files/module04/CCM1%20model%20pressure%20and%20winds.png
According to this map, higher barometric pressure averages occur where the map is red, and yellow is not bad either. To my eyes, Florida would be maybe the best place in the U.S. for year-round high pressure. It is at low altitude (pressure decreases at altitude), has high average pressure, and has low variation in pressure (from my map).
Thank you so much – I have been compiling my own charts and barometric pressure observations on my health – there are many other health issues affected by the pressure change. I have severe Chronic Fatigue Syndrome & many brain symptoms from this, and the pressure changes in Northern New Mexicowhere we live devastate me. My family and I are planning to move to Hawaii later this year, and I’ve been tracking their barometric pressure & see that it basically almost never drops below 30. Your information is so incredibly invaluable, I would like to see it posted on other health sites as well, I believe most immune system related disorders would benefit from this information. Bless you to the fullest.
I would also like to point to the post about Florida’s rapid daily roller coaster barometric changes during the rainy season, and emphasize this thoroughly for those looking to move to Florida. The daily thunderstorms could play complete havoc for you, as they are exactly as the poster noted, and why I am moving to Hawaii instead of Florida, where I grew up and am familiar with their weather patterns (FL).
They do! They do! Summertime is complete hell for me and I’m looking into someplace that would be better for me.
Good call Sara! I moved to Florida 5 years ago and my migraines have increased exponentially. I am now leaving during the summer months. I am still looking for the best place that has low humidity, temperate temperature and little variation of barometric pressure. My migraines are triggered by high heat, high humidity and frequent barometric changes. As I type this reply I am in the 17th hour of a migraine.
Hi JT, you did a great job here, thanks a million! It helped me tremendously in understanding why I have felt so much better in the past at different locations in the world.
I’ve got a small suggestion: a map with just the contours of the countries, and the city names, or a monochrome version would let the colors of the spots stand out better.
Anyway, it’s already great as it is, I think certain regions on the Earth can expect a big influx of migraineurs the next few years, thanks to you! (as a matter of fact; I wouldn’t mind living in a migraineurs colony somewhere; finally an end to all the explaining and misunderstanding and we can rub each others backs:-))
Thanks for the kind words! I think Hawaii would be a nice spot for that colony 🙂
I want to say thank you…. As a Retired Air Force NCO I’ve been a few places. I also suffer with chronic migraines and cluster headaches. There were places that I always felt more “comfortable” and never knew why. You research has provided me with a mountain of information to that I can make better travel decisions. I am sending this to all my fellow sufferers. Its not a cure but it
empowers me to make more informed decisions. Right now that is such the blessing. Keep up the good work. Too bad I can “LIKE” this page or rate the information. You would get 5 Stars and 2 thumbs up from me.
Austin
Same with me. My husband is retired AF and we’ve moved around a lot as well. Georgia has been secondly worse to Charlotte, NC. I’ve lived here 9 years and cant wait to leave. NC is the worst then Ga, Montana, Utah, then Greece. The island of Crete was the best for me. NC’s jumps in temps also bother me. We are moving to Fl next month. I heard about the daily rain in the summer there but when it moves in and out quickly it doesn’t bother me. I think this is why the weather really didn’t bother me in Montana because it would come in and go before you even knew it was there. In NC and Georgia it lingers forever. The clouds, rain etc.
Actually, MT was better than UT. ..thanks si mych for doing ALL of this work…people didnt believe me for the longest time.
How are you in FL? Where in FL did you end up? I am in Wilmington, NC which is far better than Boulder, CO but still not good. The weather here is brutal and all over the road. I wish I never would have moved here. We are looking at moving but Southern California is just too expensive and I don’t know what a better option is. We are looking into Jacksonville, Austin, and Las Vegas. In that order. I really hope I don’t get stuck in NC for another year as this past year was pretty awful.
Connie, did you make a move? I’m in exact same boat (and place) right now and looking at the same options as you were. Your input would be invaluable.
Alina, I am in Fort Collins and have been looking to move back to CA. I grew up in Newport Beach which is extremely expensive, so I am trying for either nearby Costa Mesa or Ventura which has similar 60-70’s year round and is very close to LA so I can assume very little barometric change. I am struggling to get there with an affordable (if $2000 for 2 + 1 and 650+ sq ft) rental that allows my 50lb dog. I would benefit from hearing your status and any insight you gained from Connie and/or others!
Is it possible to get a larger map of the USA? I’m trying to get an idea of what cities are close to the blue dots and dark green dots.
Thank you for all your work putting together this data.
Thank you so much for al other hard work you did. I’m from Australia and moved to Michigan and never knew how much weather affected me until I would visit back home and my migraines would get less! So we will be moving to socal! Based on your research carrying Hawaii seems to be the best plan. Mine get triggered ieth changes like rain and suff. So that was a good reason not to move it Seattle or Oregon! Thank you again.
Geez I should have corrected my spelling errors lol.
I am very happy to find this data. I moved to PR from Boston and my headaches are much better overall but there are certain months (fall and winter) where I still have them. I would like to read the data in your spreadsheet for San Juan or Vieques (PR). It appears there is no data for PR. Anyway. Great work!!
I don’t know if anyone has mentioned this, but you have hit the nail on the head about my Arthritis symptoms! I’ve never had a migraine (I’m sorry for you all), but there are many days here in Minnesota that I can barely walk, the pain in my joints is so bad. Other days, I can hike and frolic for hours!
I, too, had connected my joint pain to the weather and barometric pressure. Thank you SO MUCH for doing all that work, and for helping people like me find a GOOD place to go when the going gets too tough!
Hi, Thanks so much for sharing this! I tried downloading the raw data excel sheet several times but it doesn’t seem to open properly (strange characters). Can you check or send me an attachment please? Thank again.
Thanks for this. I was thinking I was crazy. I have one question. When looking at the National Climactic Data Center (NCDC) data. How do you tell what station the file relates to?
Thanks
Station file inventory is here: ftp://ftp.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/noaa/isd-history.txt
I have concluded that atmospheric pressure changes affect my mood (this is over a very long time) and your maps affirm my suspicion that some places are worse than others, thankyou of your work.
I was first diagnosed with meneires when living in the Missoula region along that path across Montana. It was aggressive and at it’s worst. I would eventually move to north mid section of the state and lived for 10 years with little or no problems. A year and a half ago we moved to southwest Missouri. I have had one attack, two drop attacks and 5 out of 7 days a week suffer dizziness, nausea, and have lost significant quality of life. Am visiting Montana right now and my meneires symptoms have improved greatly. Tornado Ally is not a meneires friendly place. Thanks
Hi Lisa,
I’m in Billings. Where did you live in north central montana that was better than missoula?
Thanks so much for this data! In a previous version you listed 5 cities worldwide with the lowest pressure variation. On of those was Santiago, Chile. Is that still the case? And does time of year count? For example, we are now heading into Chile’s winter when there is more rain. Would that make a difference in terms of pressure variation?
Hi JT, Thank you for all your hard work. I have a neurological disease called Trigeminal Neuralgia. I have lived in Duluth, MN for the duration of this disease. The reason for this disease can be several things. Most commonly a blood vessel pressing on the Trigeminal Nerve is the reason. Barometric pressures can cause our pain to increase substantially. This disease is dubbed the Suicide Disease. It is the worst pain known to man. I have had the treatments, meds and homeopathic treatments, but I can’t change the weather. Minnesota is not the place for me. Again, thank you for your hard work. This information is helpful while we make a decision about moving so I can have a better quality of life.
Hi, Kim. I’ve been noticing a lot more comments lately from other readers mentioning that the U.S. Southeast and Tornado Alley of the Midwest, while they seem to have reasonably low barometric variation on the map, are bad for their specific set of symptoms. For me, even knowing that my migraines are pressure-induced, and looking at my own map and seeing reasonably low variation there, I would never move back to coastal North Carolina. I think this is probably because my data is not properly capturing intra-day changes (but I don’t have enough data to prove or disprove this conclusively). If my migraines were a whole lot worse to the point of being completely unmanageable, I would immediately move to San Diego or Los Angeles, where I grew up and had symptoms much less often than I do now. But if I’d never lived in a place I was considering moving to, I would surely want to arrange to spend at least a couple of weeks, if possible, “scouting” a place to see if it made a difference for me, before I went ahead with the expense and disruption of a move. Best of luck to you!
Thank you so much for posting this. I can’t express how helpful it is. Thank you, thank you!
Hi JT. Many thanks for all of this great data. Before you recently updated this post, you listed five cities worldwide with the lowest barometric pressure fluctuation. One of these was Santiago, Chile. Would you still consider it one of the five, as I no longer see this list of cities? And does your data refer to a particular time of year (eg. summer or our winter) or would it apply all year round? Many thanks!
Howdy from South Texas. I live between San Antonio and Corpus Christy. I have some migraine issues but my main problem is rheumatoid arthritis. I’m 63 and have had many miserable years of swollen joints. I’ve always felt the barometric changes is what sets them off. This year has been the worse. I am going to go to Tucson Az. to see if the dryer and more even barometric will help. The summers in Texas are usually better so hope I can get enough relief to pack my bags. Thanks for this info. I’ll post how Tucson does.
Thanks so much for the info & all the work that went into this, JT! I’ve been researching this for years & it’s the best info I have found. I’ve been a chronic, severe BP change headache sufferer for 35+ yrs. It continues to get worse (I’m in my early 50s) & has become debilitating most days. Depression, chronic fatigue, and social withdrawal have also resulted. I’ve tried neurologists, ‘classic’ migraine prevention treatment & medications, and have had 3 sinus surgeries, nothing helps. I’ve lived in Atlanta 29 yrs and realized long ago that I have to move- just need to feel better, often & long enough, to prep my house to put it up for sale.
Again, I can’t thank you enough, and wish your information were available to more people like us. Your detailed data & maps confirm and expand on our research, provide a ton of new info….. and perhaps may be shared with those in our lives who may not understand, perceive us as exaggerating or hypochondriacal.
This is great work, and beneficial for people with many ailments. Fibro, inner ear, Sinus, Migraine. I think the data could be crunched real time using some of Google’s new tools. All the processing is done on their servers. On the clinical side, many people seem to have their own triggers, and can feel a pressure change days before or after. Would be interesting to see a map showing various data factors ie duration of pressure change vs temp vs humidity.
But still this is a great accomplishment, many thanks.
JT, how can I ever thank you for this information? Based on this, my husband and I went for a visit to Florida, Sarasota area. Though my pain didn’t change much, it was more comfortable, and I think part of why my pain didn’t decrease much was because of the stress of an 8-hour delayed plane flight and a mix-up in seats (supposed to have a handicapped seat that reclined. Had regular seat. I had to upgrade 1/3 of the way into the flight and neither of us got any sleep that night because of the delay.) and a flight and trip in general. On our 3rd day there, though, the pressure was 30.0 and I felt so much less pain for 5 hours. I didn’t take pain medication until the afternoon. The major difference, though, was in my chronic fatigue. I’m usually so fatigued that I can do very little. A trip to the store usually does me in. But I was on the go for our entire trip. It was so amazing. I wasn’t running marathons and had to pace myself because of the pain, but it wasn’t my lack of energy holding me back. Oh, JT, how can anyone really understand unless they’ve been sitting at the doorway of death like me? We’re moving to Florida!
It’s good to hear that you got some relief. How long were you in Florida? Before uprooting my entire life, job, friends, house, etc., I personally would want to spend at least several weeks in a place to feel more sure that the move was the reason for the relief (and not something else, like maybe being on vacation away from a stressful job, or the like), and then I’d probably try to go back in a different season if I could. But I don’t know your situation, and as I’ve said many times, I’m not a doctor and am not qualified to give any advice to anyone about managing health symptoms, so I’m just telling you how I would think about it if it were me personally. (I’m also a very cautious person, and tend to look, oh, a few dozen times before I leap!)
I’ve lived in Fargo, Chicago, and now in south Florida (2 hours north of Miami), and here in Florida is the WORST it’s ever been. The entire summer is one giant migraine (days on end). I’m researching possible places to move and everything I read tells me that Miami is my best bet, but NO!
Any suggestions from people who’ve moved away from Florida?
Based on the comments throughout this post, and my own personal experience living in North Carolina, I would not feel comfortable trusting any of my data for the Southeastern United States. There’s the old joke, “if you don’t like the weather in North Carolina, wait 15 minutes”. I found that to be true. I think there’s a good chance that my data set is not capturing intraday changes properly. I personally would never move to Florida for my migraines. I moved back to California, where I grew up, and to me it’s as good as it gets here.
I live in Northern California, and we’re considering immigrating to New Zealand for retirement. I have mild to moderate sleep apnea mostly controlled by a dental appliance. However, my apnea gets worse when the pressure drops. I also get fibromyalgia flares with low pressure. From your data, it doesn’t look like I’d be comfortable anywhere in New Zealand. I tried clicking on the map but couldn’t quite make it out on my iPhone, but are those areas on the North Island dark green or almost blue? Is there any area at all in New Zealand where I might be able to live comfortably? Thanks.
Hi, Tamra.
First of all, to clarify, my map indicates _variation_ in pressure (how often does the pressure change from low to high or high to low), not the _level_ of pressure (low or high).
Here’s a site that has average _level_ of pressure for U.S. States: https://wrcc.dri.edu/htmlfiles/westcomp.bp.html
It seems like most states have a pressure average around 30.00, except for areas in the Southwest, which seems to average more around 29.90 or so. Given that Alaska and Hawaii are very far from the U.S. mainland, and Colorado has lots of mountains and Illinois doesn’t, and Arizona has a lot of desert and Washington State is really wet, the fact that all these average levels are so close to each other indicates that you’re probably correct in assuming that you care more about the variation than the level, but it’s worth checking, right? So I looked here–https://www.worldweatheronline.com/lang/en-us/auckland-weather-averages/nz.aspx–and it looks like Auckland also centers around 30.00 (or 1015 millibars, which is how New Zealanders measure air pressure).
As far as air pressure variation in New Zealand, it really makes a pretty big difference where you are. From my map it looks like you would want to be as far north as possible. Although keep in mind that my map seems to be inaccurate in some places (for example, the U.S. Southeast seems to have pressure vary a lot more than my data would seem to indicate). In my data set, Auckland averages only 13 days per year of high (>= .20) variance, which is almost identical to San Francisco. Wellington, much further south, has more than twice that many. So, not as good as, say, Hawaii (0 days, ever), but much, much better than anywhere in Canada or the United Kingdom.
Thanks for you response. I think my comment was worded incorrectly. My apnea gets much worse with low pressure, while my joint pain is affected by sudden variations in pressure. The apnea is my main concern, so I’d like to find a place that has very little variation but also stays near 30.00 most of the time. I’m usually very comfortable sleeping when it’s 29.98 or above. It sounds like Hawaii would be the best choice for me, but maybe I’d be comfortable in Whangerie, NZ, or possibly one of the coastal towns northwest of it. I’ll need to do more research. Thanks so much for your feedback.
A very interesting article! Thank you very much for working this out!
I run an audiology oriented blog and would very much like to write a short article on pressure variation. Is there a possibility of using some of your pictures. If so, how to compensate you?
For your blog, you may feel free to use anything you find in my barometric pressure articles, so long as you include a mention of, and a link back to, the article from which you used the content.
Thanks a lot JT, I will 🙂
Hi JT, as a migraine sufferer, I am also affected by barometric pressure changes. Thank you for the valuable information your article provides. I have lived in a number of different cities across the US. I am originally from New York and experienced migraines living there and also in the New Haven Connecticut area. I lived in San Diego for a bit as a teenager before I was diagnosed with migraines, so I didn’t really reap the benefits there! I also lived in Las Vegas and I did notice I had fewer migraines while living there. I currently live in Colorado, about 50 miles north of Denver. I love it here, but I had no idea the barometric pressures change here so often until living here. I get the most headaches living here and they’ve become debilitating. Last month, December was really bad. I really don’t want to move but it may be something I have to consider. My question is, I know the Denver area barometric pressure fluctuates a lot, do you know if there’s other area’s in Colorado where it’s better to live for migraine sufferer’s? I really like the mountain town Bailey, I’m used to high altitude so the altitude difference there doesn’t really bother me. It’s also in a “banana belt” region so the weather is warmer in that area as opposed to surrounding towns. I thought it wouldn’t hurt to ask if you have any information of areas in Colorado that may be more comfortable for a migraine sufferer.
Thank you so much for your map! Using your data, I relocated from Seattle, Washington to Thailand and I have had zero migraines in Thailand it’s been AMAZING. In Seattle, I only ever felt all right for July and August. December and January were typically almost unbearable for me.
Interestingly, I tried to move to Vietnam (Hanoi), in winter time, and had absolutely awful migraines there, so I left and am back in Thailand.
I am so so grateful to you for all this data you have shared, it truly changed my life. Your website is one of the only sources I could find for data on barometric pressure variations for the world. I am doing so many things now and really enjoying my time and feeling productive and relieved to no longer have migraines.
Thank you for all your research. I am a nurse and I am so very aware that some places are just better for some people to call home. Of course medical science is not even considering the weather and its affects on humans. I am certain over the span of centuries it this this very thing that caused certain groups of people to migrate over vast regions even before locomotion was invented. My question is specific to California, wondering if northern (Shasta) has any benefit over say Corona? Keep up the great work! I am certain one day Medical science will be looking to you for help. When people want to reduce the medicines they are using to supposedly be better, realizing there is a better way.
In Canada, is there a place in Vancouver that is best? Okanagan, Nelson? Vernon……I live on the wet coast. Not good 🙁
Hi, Sue. My data don’t show any large differences in 24-hour variation within small areas like part of a city. Having said that, I live in the Bay Area now, and there are clearly a number of microclimates here. A few days ago it was around 70 degrees in San Francisco and over 90 degrees 10 miles east of Oakland. My wild guess is that it would probably be better to be closer to the ocean than further because closer to the ocean the weather changes less and air pressure and weather seem to be at least loosely correlated, but there might be a simple meteorological explanation for that which has nothing to do with air pressure–I’ve analyzed all this data and placed it here in case someone finds it useful, but I’m certainly not a meteorologist (nor do I have time to become one!) and so I don’t really understand the science behind the relationships between these different atmospheric metrics.
Hi JT,
Thanks so much for your invaluable work. It was depressing to read that Canada is generally a bad place to live in terms of barometric changes. That said, I had trouble interpreting the map. Would you be able to list a few better places and a few worse? I live in Toronto, something tells me that’s one of the worst….
Thanks,
Ilan
Hi, Ilan. When I zoom in on the map, it looks to me that Toronto would be about the second best place to be in Canada, probably due its lower latitude, a little bit behind Vancouver and ahead of Ottawa and Montreal. Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and Saskatchewan appear to have the most variation according to the standards I used.-JT
Thanks for the data. I had terrible migraines in Raleigh, NC, no migraines in Boone, NC, no migraines in Wilmington, NC for 2 years, migraines in Birmingham, AL, and I just recently moved to Seoul, SK and I have moderate level of migraines here. The worst is by far Raleigh, NC. I was hoping Seoul would be migraine free but it’s not. I need some help on choosing where to move next. I was considering moving back to Wilmington, NC or even Los Angeles, CA. My migraines make it too difficult to live life. I need to solve this. Thanks for all your help.
There’s no way to know whether we have the same or different migraine triggers, but I grew up in Los Angeles and lived as an adult in Wilmington for 5 years. Los Angeles is the best place I’ve ever lived for my migraines, by far. Wilmington was not nearly as bad for me as when I lived in Philadelphia and Boston, but not nearly as good for me as the various places I’ve lived in California. Within California, I have found Los Angeles to me much better for me than the Bay Area (where I live now), and a little better than Fresno, which was actually quite good for my headaches.
Thank you for your great contribution to the area of bp and migraines
You mention there are 245 places in the world where the variation is 0
Is that list tabulated and how could one access it…thanks again for your
service to mankind
Gary
You can download the spreadsheet of raw data here
https://sv2021.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Global-Barometric-Pressure-Threshold-Variation.xlsx
Hello JT, thank you for this document. I downloaded but there’s no other countries after Mexico. I am very curious about Spain, any chance you have the rest of the countries? Thank you so much in advance!
Good call Sara! I moved to Florida 5 years ago and my migraines have increased exponentially. I am now leaving during the summer months. I am still looking for the best place that has low humidity, temperate temperature and little variation of barometric pressure. My migraines are triggered by high heat, high humidity and frequent barometric changes. As I type this reply I am in the 17th hour of a migraine.
I wish this was still available.
This is awesome data..
I went to sleep in zero pain. Woke unable to walk. (Arthritis).. yes it’s barometric, a storm.is coming in.
As for the Irish outlier. It is the Gulfstream. It causes insane barometric variants. As it changes local water and air temps. Plus the flow patterns of both. Ireland is beautiful. But if you have Arthritis or any barometricly sensitive condition. Move. ????
Thank you for this data.
This is fantastic! I moved to Tucson from the Mid-Atlantic a few years ago, hoping the blue skies meant fewer days of plummeting barometer. What I needed then was your map!
Now I am unhappy here for several unrelated reasons and want to know where to go, even internationally, so I can have a life. So glad I found the map.
But…
Many people cannot change their residential location. What they (and really we all) need is an app that will forecast (and also display in a historical graph for tracking purposes) the upcoming barometric pressure for a couple days out based on the user’s location so they can at least prepare and work around the “bad days”.
I have found no such suitable app in years of looking. The closest was a migraine app, but the graph scale was ever-changing (so you couldn’t eyeball a steep drop angle), and it didn’t predict in advance. (And then they moved even that behind a paywall.)
I know the barometric prediction data is available to meteorologists, but how to get access, get an app developer, and launch & maintain it are the issues. You are halfway there after visualizing & making your maps on historic data. If we could find an app developer to help, I’m certain you could produce such a thing.
Would you?? PLEEEEEAZE??!!????????????♀️????????????
I don’t have an app, but found a website that can help. I use it to check the pressure changes in a 14 day period. It has helped me to decide where to move too! I hope it helps! Oops won’t let me copy. Not sure how to share it… search for World Weather online!
You can look at the 10-day forecast of your local station on https://www.wunderground.com to see a graph of the predicted pressure over the next 10 days.
You can look at the 10-day forecast of a local weather station on https://www.wunderground.com to see a graph of the predicted pressure over the next 10 days.
I highly recommend the WeatherX App. It’s free, gives you a 5 day graph of the past week and of the upcoming forecast so you can see trends. It also gives you a warning when the pressure is about to change. I check it daily to keep up with the swings here in CO.
I’ve dealt with migraines due to wild swings in BP variations for many years, living in southern central Manitoba (check the N America map; we’re several hours northeast of North Dakota, which is in the hotspot area for BP variations). I have used a barometer app that doesn’t predict the exact amount of a future pressure change, but at least shows when changes will happen and the pressure change history which helps me to understand why a migraine has happened, when no other triggers were factors. I liken this phenomenon to going on a trip by airplane: I always get migraines during flights, when the cabins are pressurized according to the height of the plane, but then sometimes don’t get migraines at all at the destination (this happened several times during week- long trips to LA, which were glorious). I just saw your post about the WeatherX app and have downloaded it to give it a try. I noticed their ad for specialized ear plugs, and am wondering if they might help at all. Amber, have you used them?
Thanks,
Carol
So informative, and with scientifically researched facts! I will use some of this info to share with friends and family. My goal has been to move back to Newport Beach area (from Northern Colorado) or try Ventura Beach area as both keep in 60’s and 70’s (heat is migraine trigger for me also) and are in the regions you highly suggest. Many think I just want to move back to the beach. They are not wrong, I do, because I want to feel better more days than I feel horrible, and I love the ocean- so its a win-win! I just need to get the right rental that allows my 50lb+ dog, is bigger than the moving van I will fill with my things, and for around $2k/month! Wish me luck (and good health) and I wish you the same!
Thanks,
Renae
I see a blue dot on a palma de Mallorca, which I found very strange as it was the first (and so far only place, where I experienced migraines. I have been living there for the last three years and I am strongly considering moving. I also feel it affects my RA. I am currently in Guatemala, which is where I was born, testing how I feel here, as there seems to be much less variation here. We’ll see.
Thank you for this great article!
Barometric pressure changes are not the only catalyst of migraines. For example, mine are often caused by hormonal fluctuations.
Where could I figure out which months in particular are bad for different areas?
Hello, not sure if you still monitor this page. I downloaded your spreadsheet but I see there are no countries after Mexico, any chance you could share the rest with us? This is amazing information! It has opened my eyes and now considering a move to Portugal. I barely got any migraines in Guatemala, but started again the day after coming back to the Balearics! Crazy!
I have lived in Cleveland, Ohio for 35 years and suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome since 2000, and fibromyalgia since 2012. It was becoming so life-debilitating that I was considering taking my own life. Based on this research, I left my 30+ year career, gave away everything I owned, and moved to Mexico. I now have my life back. I am 95% better with only minor “bad days” a few times per year. In Cleveland, I only have a few “good” days each year. I am off all medications. I hike nearly every day. I enjoy life. I went back to Cleveland for 2 months in Nov.-Dec, and within a few days was bedridden and in so much pain and extreme fatigue that I laid on the floor and remained stoned for days (pot doesn’t fix it, and only hides the symptoms but it’s all i have!). I will never move back to the Midwest!!
Where in Mexico? I’m happy you found relief!
This is really interesting. I suffer from what I call “pressure headaches”, but I they’re not classified as “migraines” because I’ve had hydrocephalus and an arachnoid cyst, causing changes in my brain and spines CSF fluid levels. MY own personal experience is that I’ve felt so much better in places like northern Arizona and southern Utah, but am from Houston. My headaches are MUCH worse in southern gulf coast areas. ESPECIALLY if I’m sleeping when the baro pressure drops. If I’m sleeping when it happens, I wake up feeling like I have a God awful hangover and something is literally pushing my brain down. Turns out, it’s messing with my CSF fluid, lowering it and making my brain basically “sag” more, causing the headaches and the spinal pain. It’s seems like it’s opposite for me and normal migraine sufferers. Very interesting read! Thank you for this!
Courtney, I’m writing this after another in a long line of painful, frustrating days. I found this forum and your post just floored me. You’re the only person I’ve ever heard describe what I experience: “Pressure” in my head that ruins my day if I wake up with it. I frequently wake up feeling “hungover”, exhausted, and totally unrested, even if I’ve had 9 hours of sleep for weeks in a row. The severity of that feeling seems to track with barometric shifts and I’ve started keeping an eye on them, but I had never heard of CSF fluid until reading your post. I had surgery 7 years ago to remove a massive saliva gland tumor. I’ve been dealing with this issue since before then, and I can’t help wondering if the tumor somehow set this all in motion. If you have any suggestions on how you mitigate your symptoms, or professionals I could reach out to I would be so thankful! This thing is an albatross. At first I was told it was related to seasonal allergies, more recently I’ve been working with a nuerologist and was diagnosed with migraines without aura, but none of the medications or treatments have helped. It makes me miss work and has my wife and I stressed over the idea of having to move. We live in Vermont and love it here, but the barometric shifts in Vermont don’t love me. Thank you for writing your post! It’s given me a grain of hope and a new track to research.
My son and I used your map to evaluate where he could apply for jobs that would be better than Boston for barometric variation. We ended up in SF Bay Area, in Fremont near Milpitas.
But every year we’ve been here the variation has gotten worse. Freak storms and atmospheric rivers.
I know it would be a lot of work (and compute intensive) but I bet you could animate this data delta year over year to demonstrate climate change.
I am desperate to find updated data for the barometric pressure variations JT has supplied here. Is there anything more recent than 2016 or even since 2013 which shows the same data? With climate change accelerating and now being in a position to make a huge move I need this same data for more recent years. Thank you to anyone who can help.
I am not sure how to get the hourly data. I did notice that https://www.wunderground.com/ has daily min, avg and max pressures. Search city, click on history tab, then pick monthly. Then scroll to bottom of page there is a table with this data for every day that month. Hope that helps.
My migraines are caused by barometric changes, environmental allergens and sinus issues. I used to think that I had chronic sinus infections, but I have recently come to learn that some migraines can make you feel like you have sinusitis, even if your sinuses are clear. What I don’t know is why I have migraines all winter (I am in Minnesota). Logically, the barometric pressure is higher, and there is no pollen, so one would think I would get relief. So far, the only thing that works is prednisone, which is bad for me long-term, and I’ve been on it no stop since November.
I have been consulting this map and traveled to Portugal and Cancun–and I did much better in those places. Ocean air seems to help a lot. I also have asthma and I wish there was a place in the US on this map, that is on the ocean with lower pollen levels and good air quality I could afford to retire to, but I haven’t found one. Any suggestions?
Hello, I agree with everyone here that this has basically just confirmed everything I have been suspicious about for two years. I think this has just changed my life. I feel incredibly fortunate that my research finally landed me on this page! I have been living in Berlin, Germany since the end of 2020, but before hand I was in New Orleans. Before that it was NYC, and for many years Los Angeles. I actually grew up in Houston. I began having the worst pain and underwent spine surgery while in NY. I felt I had such improvement by the time I was in New Orleans and have felt myself completely deteriorating since I have lived in Berlin. I have seen six different doctors, had every MRI, or nerve test, and all the physical therapy possible, and I have just recently been to the ER due to extreme symptoms. I am having to see a cardiologist, and then a neurologist and all these possibilities have come up, BUT I’ve been trying to chase this pain down for many years and have already seen these types of doctors elsewhere with no results. All of the information you share here makes perfect sense. When I was living in NOLA I would have to visit Chicago twice a year. The entire time I was in Illinois I was ill, couldn’t even take a cab without becoming extremely car sick and then being unable to attend dinners etc., but as soon as I was back in New Orleans and in a cab home I was magically just fine. I take into consideration the flight, of course, and how that too is not wonderful, but the difference between one week in Chicago feeling terrible and then being back home in NOLA…I just knew something was up with this. I realize you said that you could not find much data on Germany, but looking at your map I can easily say that it is likely to be in the danger zone for me because I need to be in the blue to even feel semi human. I am so incredibly grateful. If anything, I feel I can do more research and learn how to approach all of this differently now. I see another doctor tomorrow and I think this is a good way to start my conversation with her. Thank you so much for all your incredible work.
I think what is a, if not the major factor, is the jet stream and other upper level winds. I know that they are for some folks. By the way, there in I would bet, is the reason for North Dakota’s stats.
As an experiment we went from central Oklahoma, where we lived, for 9 days in San Diego. My wife, the migrainer in the family, did not have any episodic migraines while in San Diego (which supports your theory) but her “daily headache” was more persistent than normal. We could only conclude that her daily headaches were exasperated by the baseline low barametric pressure typical of coastal cities. What do you think?
Funny we found similar. We lived in the San Marcos area for about 5 months and our migraine sufferer found daily background headache to be worse. We attributed it to the humidity. They do much better in dry, warm climates.