#MEwx warm, rainy and how barometric pressure can effect your blood pressure

Good morning Augusta

This morning we have mostly cloudy skies with isolated showers and thunderstorms, then scattered showers and thunderstorms this afternoon. Some thunderstorms may produce heavy rainfall. Highs in the lower 80s with light and variable winds.

Tonight we’ll have mostly cloudy conditions with scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms this evening, then isolated showers after midnight. Some thunderstorms may produce heavy rainfall. Humid with lows in the mid 60s with light and variable winds.

The outdoor temperature is 68.5°F, the dewpoint is 68.2°F and it feels like 69.7°F.

We received 0.02 inches of  rain here over the past 24 hours.

Sunrise is 5:04 am, sunset is 8:26 PM and we’ll have 15 hours 21 minutes of daylight today.

Moonrise is 7:09 PM,  Moonset is 2:24 AM. The moon phase is Waxing Gibbous and is 92% illuminated. Our next full moon will be on July 10 and our next new moon is on July 24.

The wind is from the North Northeast between 2.7 MPH and 6.55 MPH.

The Relative pressure is 29.68, the Absolute pressure is 29.48 and falling with a weather graphic indicating rain and clouds.

The humidity is 99%, the UV index is 1 placing the average person at low risk and the solar radiation reading is 147.8W/M2.

Visibility is 10.0 miles / 16.1 Kilometers with overcast and drizzle.

 

Blood Pressure

How can the barometric pressure today affect your blood pressure? Your circulatory system is made up of your heart, which acts as a pump, and your arteries and veins, which carry blood to and from your heart and tissues. Blood pressure is determined by the rate and strength of your heart and the resistance of your blood vessels. Changing blood pressure is another big health effect of barometric pressure.

"When it gets cold, your blood vessels constrict. This causes your blood pressure to increase because it takes more pressure to move blood through a narrower space, explained Sheldon Sheps, MD, emeritus professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota, on mayoclinic.org.

"In addition to cold weather, blood pressure may also be affected by a sudden change in weather patterns, such as a weather front or a storm," said Dr. Sheps. "Your body — and blood vessels — may react to abrupt changes in humidity, atmospheric pressure, cloud cover or wind in much the same way it reacts to cold."

"These weather-related variations in blood pressure are more common in people ages 65 and older," he said.

 

* Blood Sugar

When the pressure drops during a cold front, it causes the viscosity, or thickness, of the blood to increase, said Jennifer Vanos, assistant professor in geosciences at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, in an interview with weather.com

"Diabetics will have more trouble controlling their blood sugar during cold fronts," she said.

Rapidly dropping blood sugar could also trigger a migraine attack. Reactive hypoglycemia is a condition in which your blood sugar falls quickly, and it usually happens when the sugar rush from high-carb or high-glucose foods wears off. It's one of the least understood, but very real, migraine triggers.

When blood sugar dips as a result of a change in the environment, it can produce what is called low barometric pressure fatigue.

 

*Joint Pain

s at Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston surveyed 200 patients with knee osteoarthritis and found a link between changes in barometric pressure and ambient temperature and changes in knee pain severity

What is high barometric pressure and how does it differ from the impact of low barometric pressure symptoms that raise your awareness of mysterious joint pain?

"It's not clear why a falling barometer would exacerbate joint pain and arthritis, but studies such as this one confirm that they do," reported Mother Nature. "It could be that barometric pressure affects the viscosity of the fluid that lines joint sacs, or it could be that it triggers the pain responses in the nerve endings of the joint. Either way, it's what your grandma has been saying for years: Some people feel pain in their joints when a storm is approaching."

Some people really can feel atmospheric pressure changes within their bodies.

Those with migraine, diabetes, high or low blood pressure, or osteoarthritis are the most susceptible to extra aches and pains before a storm. You can't control the weather, but understanding how weather changes affect you can help you prevent the worst or make better plans to weather the storm.

These 4 high- and low-barometric-pressure symptoms may help explain why you're feeling a bit off. Paying attention to changing weather patterns and weather symptoms can be a good way to manage your overall health.