Missouri · 280 m elevation

Barometric Pressure in Kansas City, MO

• 30.03Average pressure (inHg, sea level)
• 218.2Swing days a year · 16th of 50
• 125.3Big-swing days a year (≥10 hPa)
• 126.0Significant 24h drop days a year

Overview

Kansas City averages 218.2 significant pressure swing days a year, ranking #16 of 50 US cities. January runs about six times as active as July.

Kansas City sits at 280 meters (about 920 feet) on the western edge of the Missouri Valley, and its 2015-2024 pressure record reflects that continental position. Mean sea-level pressure is 30.03 inHg (1016.8 hPa), with a median of 30.01 inHg (1016.1 hPa). Most hours fall between 29.67 inHg (1004.9 hPa) and 30.44 inHg (1030.8 hPa) — the 5th and 95th percentiles — and the standard deviation of 0.23 inHg (7.82 hPa) ranks #10 of the 50 cities compared here, above the national median of 6.87 hPa.

Elevation matters for anyone reading an instrument at home. Sea-level-adjusted values are what forecasts and aviation reports use, but actual station pressure in Kansas City averages 29.04 inHg (983.5 hPa) — roughly 0.98 inHg (33.3 hPa) below the MSL figure. An uncalibrated barometer reading near 29.04 inHg on an ordinary day is not broken; it is measuring the air that is actually there.

Nationally, Kansas City is solidly volatile without being extreme. It logs 218.2 significant swing days per year — days with a 24-hour change of at least 0.18 inHg (6 hPa) — against a national median of 180.7, ranking #16 of 50. The big-swing count is where the city stands out: 125.3 days per year with a change of 0.30 inHg (10 hPa) or more, about 1.46 times the national median of 86.1, ranking #13 — better than its overall swing rank. That combination is characteristic of the Plains: fewer marginal days than the mountain West, but larger moves when a system does come through. Denver, ranked #1, records 281.6 swing days per year, about 1.29 times Kansas City's total. St. Louis, on the other side of the state, records 193.8 swing days and 103.6 big-swing days, so Kansas City runs about 1.13 and 1.21 times higher respectively. Against Miami at #50, the gap is 11 times the swing days and roughly 39 times the big-swing days.

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 barometric pressure, Kansas City is a seasonal situation rather than a year-round one. The city records 126 drop days per year — significant 24-hour falls — and 125.3 big-swing days at or above 0.30 inHg (10 hPa). The median absolute 24-hour change is a modest 0.11 inHg (3.8 hPa), but the 95th percentile is 0.45 inHg (15.4 hPa), and shorter-window moves can be abrupt: the largest 6-hour drop in the record was 0.42 inHg (14.2 hPa). Days like that produce conditions many pressure-sensitive people report as triggers.

The most active stretch is unambiguous. Drop days peak in February at 17.0 per year, January at 16.3, November at 16.2, December at 15.3, March at 14.8, and October at 12.7. Through midwinter that works out to a significant fall on more than half of all days. The quietest stretch is equally clear: July averages 1.3 drop days for the entire month, August 2.6, and June 4.0. From roughly mid-June through mid-September, there is simply not much for a barometer log to record.

In national terms, Kansas City sits above most of the country but short of the leaders. Its 218.2 swing days are about 1.21 times the national median of 180.7, and its 125.3 big-swing days about 1.46 times the median of 86.1 — ranks #16 and #13 of 50. Denver and Colorado Springs, at #1 and #2, run higher; St. Louis runs about 11 percent lower in swing days. Compared with Los Angeles at 45.6 swing days a year, Kansas City sees roughly 4.8 times as many; compared with Miami's 19.8, about 11 times as many. Anyone arriving from the West Coast or Florida should expect the November-through-March half of the year to behave very differently, and that same window is where symptom-and-pressure logs will show the most variation to work with.

Seasonal patterns

Kansas City's pressure year has two distinct halves, and the split is wider than the annual averages suggest. January produces 26.8 significant swing days, February 25.1, March 25.4, November 25.7 and December 25.4. July produces 4.3 — roughly a six-to-one cold-season-to-midsummer ratio. Month-to-month variability says the same thing: the standard deviation is 0.30 inHg (10.04 hPa) in February and 0.30 inHg (10.0 hPa) in January, falling to 0.10 inHg (3.41 hPa) in July and 0.10 inHg (3.51 hPa) in August, nearly a three-fold contraction.

The driver is the winter storm track. From November through March, Arctic high-pressure domes and Plains cyclones alternate directly over the Missouri Valley, and each handoff moves the barometer substantially. Monthly mean pressure peaks in January at 30.16 inHg (1021.5 hPa) and February at 30.13 inHg (1020.4 hPa), and bottoms out in June at 29.90 inHg (1012.7 hPa) and July at 29.96 inHg (1014.6 hPa). In summer the synoptic gradient collapses, and what pressure change there is comes from local convection rather than passing fronts. October, with 22.6 swing days, marks the return of the cold-season pattern; May, at 15.3, marks its exit.

The extremes are all cold-season events. The record high of 31.14 inHg (1054.4 hPa) was set on January 7, 2015 at 12:00. The second-largest 24-hour fall in the decade — 0.98 inHg (33.3 hPa) — ended at 15:00 on January 8, meaning its 24-hour window opened just three hours after that record reading. The largest single drop on record, 1.01 inHg (34.1 hPa), ended early on February 27, 2023. The remaining top falls came on January 10, 2017 at 0.93 inHg (31.4 hPa), January 18, 2020 at 0.87 inHg (29.5 hPa), and December 27, 2018 at 0.80 inHg (27.0 hPa). All five landed between December and February. The record low, 29.08 inHg (984.9 hPa), was set December 23, 2015, and the sharpest 24-hour rise in the record was 1.13 inHg (38.2 hPa).

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

• Omaha, NE
• Wichita, KS
• Tulsa, OK
• St. Louis, MO
• Oklahoma City, OK
• Memphis, TN

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