Barometric Pressure Forecast for Metairie, Louisiana
Barometric pressure forecast for Metairie, Louisiana — between Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi in Jefferson Parish, where tropical systems produce the deepest pressure falls on the continent. See current barometric pressure and what it means for weather-sensitive people.
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Pressure and weather in Metairie
Metairie lies on the narrow strip between the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain and the levees of the Mississippi River, much of it at or below sea level on drained marshland. Its barometric pressure climatology is defined by the tropics. From June through November a hurricane approaching the northern Gulf coast can drive the barometer down by fifty millibars or more, an amount no mid-latitude storm in North America comes close to, and the fall is smooth and relentless rather than jagged. Even a distant tropical system or a broad disturbance in the Gulf produces a noticeable sag in current barometric pressure days before any rain arrives. The rest of the warm season is remarkably level: from May into September the subtropical ridge sits over the region and the daily routine is heating, extreme humidity and afternoon thunderstorms triggered by the sea breeze pushing inland from the lake and the Gulf, storms that can be torrential yet register only a small pressure blip. Winter is the season of genuine frontal passages, when cold fronts sweep in from Texas with a sharp wind shift, a rapid rise behind and a day or two of drier air before the Gulf moisture returns. Severe weather and even tornadoes accompany some of those fronts. A barometric pressure forecast here is most consequential from August into October.
What this means for you
Can barometric pressure cause headaches? Southeast Louisiana produces both the flattest stretches and the single largest pressure changes on the continent, which makes it easier than most places to see whether magnitude matters for you. Humidity is nearly constant here, so it is unlikely to be the variable. Track current barometric pressure in Pressure Pal as a migraine tracker app and watch it closely during tropical season.