Can Weather Cause Migraines? The Barometric Pressure Connection

"A storm is coming — I can feel it in my head." If you've ever said something like this, you're not alone. Between 50% and 70% of migraine sufferers identify weather changes as one of their triggers. But for decades, the scientific community was skeptical. Is weather really a trigger, or are migraineurs just looking for something to blame?

Recent research has finally caught up with what patients have known all along: weather, specifically barometric pressure changes, can indeed trigger migraine attacks. Here's what we know in 2026.

What the Research Shows

A landmark 2015 study published in Internal Medicine analyzed over 28,000 emergency department visits for headache and correlated them with atmospheric data. The researchers found a statistically significant increase in headache-related ER visits when barometric pressure dropped within a 24-hour period.

More recently, a 2021 meta-analysis in Current Pain and Headache Reports reviewed 18 studies on weather and migraines. The conclusion: low barometric pressure and falling pressure (a drop of 5+ hPa within 24 hours) are the most consistently associated weather factors. Temperature extremes and high humidity also showed association, but less consistently.

The critical factor isn't absolute pressure — it's the rate of change. A steady low-pressure system is less triggering than a rapid drop.

The Biology: Why Pressure Affects Your Brain

Several mechanisms have been proposed for why barometric pressure changes trigger migraines:

• Sinus pressure changes: Your sinuses are air-filled cavities. When external pressure drops rapidly, the relative pressure inside your sinuses increases, causing expansion and irritation of the trigeminal nerve — the primary nerve involved in migraine pain.
• Cerebral blood flow: Barometric changes may alter cerebral blood vessel diameter. Lower external pressure can cause blood vessels to dilate, a key step in the migraine cascade.
• Ion channel sensitivity: Some researchers believe that people with migraines have ion channels in their neurons that are more sensitive to pressure changes, lowering the threshold for cortical spreading depression (the wave of brain activity that often precedes migraine aura).
• Serotonin fluctuations: Atmospheric pressure changes have been shown to affect serotonin levels in the brainstem, and serotonin dysregulation is central to migraine pathophysiology.

The exact mechanism likely varies between individuals, which is why weather affects some migraineurs dramatically and others barely at all.

It's Not Just Pressure

Weather is multi-dimensional. Beyond barometric pressure, research has identified several weather-related migraine triggers:

• Temperature swings: Rapid temperature changes (10°F+ within a few hours) are more triggering than stable extreme temperatures
• Humidity: Very high humidity (>80%) increases migraine frequency in some studies
• Bright sunlight: Strong UV exposure and glare can trigger attacks, especially in people with photophobia between attacks
• Wind: Strong dry winds (like the Chinook, Foehn, or Santa Ana winds) have been associated with increased migraine frequency in regional studies
• Lightning: A 2013 study in Cephalalgia found a 31% increase in migraine risk on lightning days, even after controlling for other weather factors

How to Track Weather Triggers

If you suspect weather affects your migraines, here's how to confirm it with data:

1. Automated Weather Logging

Don't try to manually record weather — that's tedious and inaccurate. Use an app or service that automatically logs atmospheric conditions at your location when you record an attack. You need barometric pressure (in hPa or inHg), temperature, humidity, and ideally the rate of change over the previous 6-24 hours.

2. Look for Patterns Over Months

Weather triggers are notoriously hard to isolate because weather changes coincide with other triggers. A storm often means less sleep, more stress, and less exercise. You need at least 3-4 months of data to separate weather effects from confounding factors.

3. Focus on Pressure Changes, Not Absolutes

Track the 6-hour and 24-hour pressure change, not just the current reading. A drop from 1020 hPa to 1005 hPa over 12 hours is significant. The absolute number (1005 vs 1020) matters less than the delta.

Can You Prevent Weather Migraines?

You can't change the weather, but you can prepare for it:

• Get alerts: Use barometric pressure monitoring to get a warning 6-12 hours before a significant drop, so you can optimize sleep, hydration, and stress before the change hits
• Preemptive medication: Some neurologists recommend taking triptans or NSAIDs preemptively when a known weather trigger is approaching, though this should be discussed with your doctor
• Strengthen your baseline: Keep other triggers low on high-risk weather days — sleep well, stay hydrated, avoid alcohol, and manage stress
• Consider magnesium: Some studies suggest daily magnesium supplementation (400-600mg) may reduce weather sensitivity, though evidence is mixed

The most practical approach is awareness. If you know that pressure drops are a trigger, you can't prevent the weather — but you can make sure every other factor is optimized to keep you below your migraine threshold.

When Weather Isn't the Real Trigger

A word of caution: weather is often a scapegoat. Because weather changes are noticeable and memorable, they get blamed for attacks that may have other causes. A careful data analysis might reveal that your "weather migraines" actually correlate more strongly with the poor sleep or stress that coincides with stormy weather.

This is why objective tracking matters. Your diary might reveal that you get migraines on 30% of low-pressure days — but also on 25% of normal-pressure days. That's barely significant. Only data can tell you whether weather is a real trigger for you, or just a convincing correlation.