Ohio · 200 m elevation

Barometric Pressure in Cleveland, OH

• 30.04Average pressure (inHg, sea level)
• 231.2Swing days a year · 11th of 50
• 129.5Big-swing days a year (≥10 hPa)
• 138.5Significant 24h drop days a year

Overview

Cleveland averages 231.2 significant pressure swing days a year — #11 of 50 US cities. Mean 30.04 inHg (1017.3 hPa), record drop -1.34 inHg in 24 hours.

Cleveland's barometer doesn't sit at unusual levels. Over the decade from 2015 through 2024, mean sea-level pressure averaged 30.04 inHg (1017.3 hPa), with the middle of the distribution at 30.03 inHg (1017 hPa) and the typical range running from 29.69 inHg (1005.4 hPa) at the 5th percentile to 30.42 inHg (1030 hPa) at the 95th. Those are ordinary numbers for the eastern United States. What sets Cleveland apart is how fast the barometer travels between them.

The city logs 231.2 significant swing days per year — days when pressure moves at least 0.18 inHg (6 hPa) over 24 hours — ranking #11 of 50 US cities and running 1.28 times the national median of 180.7. Big-swing days, meaning 24-hour moves of 0.30 inHg (10 hPa) or more, come 129.5 times a year, #10 nationally and 1.50 times the median of 86.1. That works out to roughly 63% of all days with a significant move and about 35% with a big one. Cleveland's standard deviation of 0.22 inHg (7.42 hPa) ranks only #15, so the spread of pressure readings is unremarkable — the rate of change is not. Systems crossing the lower Great Lakes move through quickly, and the barometer has to keep up.

Cleveland sits at 200 m elevation, which puts a real gap between the sea-level values quoted in forecasts and what a home barometer reports if it is set to raw station pressure. Mean surface pressure here is 29.33 inHg (993.1 hPa), about 0.71 inHg (24.2 hPa) below the sea-level mean. An instrument reading near 29.33 inHg on a quiet day is working correctly — it simply hasn't been corrected to sea level.

Migraine & pressure-sensitivity outlook

• Low — under 6 hPa (0.18 inHg)
• Elevated — 6 to 10 hPa
• High — 10 hPa (0.30 inHg) or more
• Dashed outline = forecast (after today)

Association only. This calendar shows days when pressure changed — or is forecast to change — sharply over 24 hours, conditions associated with pressure sensitivity in some people. It is not a prediction of symptoms, not a diagnosis, and not medical advice. The 30 days of history are there so you can compare the days you actually felt something against what the barometer did. Talk to a clinician about headache or migraine management.

For people who track pressure changes, Cleveland is a demanding place. A typical 24-hour change is 0.12 inHg (4.1 hPa), but the 95th-percentile change is 0.46 inHg (15.7 hPa), and the city averages 138.5 drop days per year — significant 24-hour falls, the direction many pressure-sensitive people report as a trigger. On the fastest days pressure has fallen 0.59 inHg (20 hPa) in six hours. These are conditions many pressure-sensitive people report as triggers, and they occur on roughly a third of all days at the big-swing threshold.

The seasonal contrast is the practical takeaway. From December through March, Cleveland delivers 25 to 27 swing days per month — nearly every day carries a measurable move. July and August average 8.3 to 8.8 swing days, with only about 4.4 drop days each. Winter and early spring look nothing like midsummer in this record.

In national terms, Cleveland sits inside a tight Great Lakes and Northeast cluster: Detroit at 239.3 swing days, Chicago at 233.7 and Philadelphia at 231.7 all land within a few days of Cleveland's 231.2. This is a regional storm-track signature, not a local quirk. The intra-Ohio gap is real, though — Columbus sees 204.2 swing days and 108.9 big-swing days, so Cleveland runs 1.13 times the swing days and 1.19 times the big-swing days of the state capital. Against the calmest cities the difference is dramatic: Cleveland has 11.7 times Miami's swing days and about 40 times its big-swing days, 5.1 times Los Angeles's swing days, and twice Atlanta's. Even against Denver, the most volatile city in the set at 281.6 swing days, Cleveland reaches 82%.

Seasonal patterns

The year splits cleanly. January is the most turbulent month with 26.8 swing days, followed by February at 26.4, March at 26.0, and December at 25.1. August is the calmest at 8.3, with July close behind at 8.8. January carries 3.2 times August's swing count. Month-to-month variability tells the same story: the standard deviation of pressure peaks at 0.28 inHg (9.46 hPa) in January and 0.28 inHg (9.45 hPa) in February, then collapses to 0.12 inHg (4.01 hPa) in August. Drop days — significant 24-hour falls — follow the pattern, running 17.3 in February and 16.7 in January against 4.4 in each of July and August.

The driver is the polar jet stream. In winter it sits over the lower Great Lakes, steering clippers and deepening low-pressure systems across northern Ohio in rapid succession. By midsummer the jet has retreated north and Cleveland lies under slack pressure gradients, which is why the summer barometer barely moves. Mean pressure by month varies far less than the day-to-day motion does, peaking at 30.11 inHg (1019.5 hPa) in November and 30.10 inHg (1019.4 hPa) in January and bottoming at 29.94 inHg (1014 hPa) in June.

The sharpest event on record is also the low-pressure record. Pressure fell 1.34 inHg (45.4 hPa) in the 24 hours ending at 8 p.m. on January 9, 2024, and bottomed out at 28.94 inHg (980 hPa) one hour later at 9 p.m. That single drop ranks #5 deepest among all 50 cities, behind only Boston, New York, Detroit and Philadelphia. The next four steepest falls: 1.09 inHg (36.9 hPa) ending January 18, 2020; 0.98 inHg (33.1 hPa) ending February 24, 2019; 0.97 inHg (32.9 hPa) ending March 3, 2023; and 0.92 inHg (31 hPa) ending February 24, 2016. All five occurred between January and March. The record high, 30.92 inHg (1047 hPa), came on February 9, 2019 — deep winter cuts both ways.

Month by month

Swing days: 24-hour change of at least 6 hPa (0.18 inHg). Drop days: 24-hour fall of at least 6 hPa. Averages per year, 2015–2024.

Records and extremes

Sharpest 24-hour drops, 2015–2024

Nearby cities

• Detroit, MI
• Columbus, OH
• Indianapolis, IN
• Washington, DC
• Baltimore, MD
• Chicago, IL

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