Plenty of people say a storm front “brings” their migraine. Some days that matches the calendar. Some days it does not. A diary that stores pressure next to the attack lets you look at the claim without arguing from vibes.
It still does not prove cause, and it does not mean you can treat migraine with a barometer.
What pressure even is
Barometric (atmospheric) pressure is the weight of the air column. It is often shown in hectopascals (hPa) or inches of mercury (inHg). The iPhone has a barometer. Weather services publish surface pressure for a location.
A number on a Tuesday is not a diagnosis. It is one more column.
Log the reading at the time of the attack
“It was stormy that week” is not a dataset. “Attack started 14:10, 1004 hPa from the phone” is.
If the phone cannot read the barometer (some environments, some builds), a nearby weather reading is a backup. Note the source if you can. Mixing airport METAR from 40 miles away with the phone sensor will smear the graph.
Look at change, not just the number
People who care about this topic usually talk about falling pressure, not an absolute “bad” hPa. A diary cannot compute a publishable science paper, but you can scan:
- Attacks on days the number dropped vs days it sat still
- Whether you only log weather as a trigger when you already believe the story
Confirmation bias is the main failure mode. If you only tag “weather” when you saw a dark sky, you will “discover” weather.
What not to do with the graph
Do not cancel life because an app shows 1008 hPa. Do not start or stop a prescription because a line sloped down. Do not buy a gadget that promises to warn you in time to “stop” an attack.
If you want to discuss weather with a clinician, bring the table. Let them decide whether it is noise.
Units and travel
hPa and inHg are the same sky. Pick one unit and stay there so 29.90 does not sit next to 1012 like two diseases. If you fly, remember cabin pressure is not outdoor weather; tag “travel” instead of pretending the barometer explains the cabin.
Auralis’s job here
Auralis can store the iPhone barometer with an episode and, if you allow location, fetch nearby surface pressure from a public weather API. Coordinates are not stored on our servers — there is no Auralis cloud for this. The PDF can print the number you captured.
That is the whole feature: a number beside a pain score. No forecast of a cure.
If weather is not your pattern
Delete the story. Keep logging attacks. Pressure is optional. A migraine tracker that insists every entry needs a front is an app designed for a blog post, not for a Tuesday.