Hey Ray! Feeling Changes In The Weather

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The atmosphere has weight. The near average weight is 14.7 pounds per square inch. That means every square inch of your body, on average, has 14.7 pounds of atmosphere pushing on it.

While that sounds like a lot of weight, there is an equal amount of pressure inside our bodies pushing outward, so it does not crush us.

This atmospheric weight changes all the time when the weather changes.

When high pressure is nearby, which features sinking air, the atmosphere can push down on us a little more.

The atmosphere can push less when low pressure, which features rising air, is nearby.

Some people are more sensitive to changes in pressure, you know, atmospheric weight changes. This means some people can feel when the weather is changing.

We did an experiment with marshmallows before where we removed all the air out of the container the marshmallows were in.

The marshmallows expanded!

Think of these marshmallows as your joints.

When the pressure drops, your joints and what surrounds them expands a little. Some people's joints or heads can ache because of that expansion.

Some people say their sore knee, or other joint, can predict rain.

That is actually possible! As a cold front approaches, the pressure will continue to drop until the front passes. Usually, cold fronts come with precipitation. This means, someone feeling the pressure dropping in their joints may be able to tell you that rain is on the way from the pain.

So, when someone says their body is telling them the weather is going to change, don't dismiss them!

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