Tennessee · 158 m elevation

Barometric Pressure in Nashville, TN

• 30.06Average pressure (inHg, sea level)
• 151.1Swing days a year · 31st of 50
• 72.4Big-swing days a year (≥10 hPa)
• 82.2Significant 24h drop days a year

Overview

Nashville averages 30.06 inHg (1018.0 hPa) and 151.1 significant pressure swing days a year — 25.0 in January, but only 0.9 in July.

Nashville's barometer averages 30.06 inHg (1018.0 hPa) at sea-level equivalent, with a median of 30.05 inHg (1017.5 hPa). Most readings land in a fairly tight band: the 5th-to-95th percentile range runs from 29.79 inHg (1008.7 hPa) to 30.39 inHg (1029.2 hPa), a spread of about 0.61 inHg (20.5 hPa). The standard deviation is 0.19 inHg (6.27 hPa), which ranks 32nd of 50 major US cities — modestly below the national median of 6.87 hPa.

At 158 meters (518 feet), Nashville sits high enough for the elevation correction to matter on a home instrument. Mean station pressure is 29.51 inHg (999.2 hPa), about 0.56 inHg (18.8 hPa) below the sea-level-adjusted figure that airports and weather apps report. An uncorrected aneroid barometer will read near 29.51 inHg on an ordinary day, not 30.06. If your gauge has an adjustment screw, that offset is what you're dialing out.

The national ranking undersells what actually happens here, because Nashville's single rank averages two very different climates. The city logs 151.1 significant swing days per year — 24-hour changes of at least 0.18 inHg (6 hPa) — which is 31st of 50 and about 84% of the national median of 180.7. But 72.4 of those days, nearly half, are big-swing days of 0.30 inHg (10 hPa) or more, ranking 29th. And the sharpest 24-hour fall on record, 1.03 inHg (35.0 hPa), ranks 21st nationally, in the top half. Fewer disruptions than average, but the ones that arrive hit hard.

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 as a trigger, Nashville is a seasonal city rather than a year-round one. Across the full year it averages 151.1 significant swing days and 82.2 drop days — days with a 24-hour fall of at least 0.18 inHg (6 hPa). The typical day is quiet: the median absolute 24-hour change is just 0.08 inHg (2.7 hPa). But that median is misleading here, because the distribution is heavily seasonal. The window worth watching is November through March, when the city logs between 16.1 and 25.0 swing days per month and between 8.4 and 14.0 drop days. From June through September, drop days fall to between 0.4 and 1.6 per month.

When fronts do come through, they come through decisively. Nearly half of Nashville's significant swing days — 72.4 of 151.1 — clear the big-swing threshold of 0.30 inHg (10 hPa), a higher proportion than Atlanta (38%) or Memphis (46%). The 95th-percentile 24-hour change is 0.35 inHg (11.7 hPa), and the fastest six-hour drop on record is 0.43 inHg (14.6 hPa). These are the conditions many pressure-sensitive people report as triggers, concentrated into about five months of the calendar.

Against other cities: Nashville sees about 1.31 times Atlanta's swing days and 1.63 times its big-swing days, despite both sitting in the Southeast. It is close to a statistical twin of Memphis (147.1 swing days, 67.4 big swings). Compared with Denver, the most volatile city in the set, Nashville has just 54% as many swing days — but its worst recorded drop, 1.03 inHg (35.0 hPa), reaches 89% of Denver's. Relative to Miami at the calm end of the national table, Nashville registers 7.6 times the swing days and 22.6 times the big-swing days. The practical read for anyone sensitive to rapid pressure change: a Nashville summer carries very few of these swings, and a Nashville January carries many.

Seasonal patterns

The seasonal split here is among the most lopsided in the country. January produces 25.0 significant swing days in an average year; July produces 0.9. That is a factor of roughly 28. Monthly variability tells the same story: January's standard deviation is 0.25 inHg (8.42 hPa), a figure that would rank near the top of the national table if it held year-round, while July's is 0.09 inHg (2.91 hPa), below Miami's annual figure of 3.57 hPa. December (22.4 swing days), March (22.5) and February (22.0) round out the turbulent season; August (1.7), September (3.4) and June (3.5) are the flat ones.

The driver is the winter storm track. From November through March, cold fronts and low-pressure systems cross the Mid-South in rapid succession, and each passage stamps a deep trough into the pressure trace. In summer, Nashville sits under warm, weakly-gradient subtropical air with little synoptic forcing — pressure drifts through a shallow daily cycle and not much else. Monthly mean pressure follows the same rhythm, peaking at 30.16 inHg (1021.4 hPa) in January and bottoming at 29.97 inHg (1014.8 hPa) in June.

Every one of Nashville's five sharpest 24-hour drops on record fell in January, February or March. The largest was a 1.03 inHg (35.0 hPa) collapse ending the morning of January 9, 2024, followed by 0.78 inHg (26.3 hPa) on January 25, 2023, and 0.71 inHg (24.1 hPa) on March 3, 2023 — that last one bottoming out at the all-time low of 29.12 inHg (986.1 hPa) at 1 PM the same day. Two more, both 0.69 inHg (23.3 hPa), came on January 19, 2019 and February 24, 2016. The record high, 30.89 inHg (1046.2 hPa), was set on January 7, 2015. The city can also rise nearly as fast as it falls: the largest 24-hour gain on record is 1.01 inHg (34.1 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

• Louisville, KY
• Memphis, TN
• Atlanta, GA
• Indianapolis, IN
• St. Louis, MO
• Columbus, OH

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