Sensing Changes in the Weather

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TheIT

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Some people seem to be able to sense changes in the weather. For example, if a storm's coming, their trick knee starts to hurt. I'm looking for examples of people being able to feel a change. What sort of feeling is it? How far in advance of the weather event? How accurate?

This is for a fantasy story I'm working on where one of my characters will have a similar talent.

Thanks in advance for any help.
 

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For most people, it's merely their bodies adjusting to barometric pressure shifts -- which usually presage weather changes. It is most often described as more (or less) pain than usual in a particular joint or appendage.

Maybe your character is so sensitive to air pressure, he can actually feel it rise or fall against his skin?

He might also be able to "smell" ozone. When a storm's brewing, especially an electrical storm, charged ions fill the air, creating ozone, or something like that. Maybe he can sense this? Tell when a storm's coming by the scent.
 

kikazaru

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I often get a headache when there is a change in barometric pressure especiall with high humidity. It feels like a sinus headache.
 

Saanen

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When I was eleven a horse stepped on my big toe. For years afterwards I could tell when it was going to snow because that toe would ache. It stopped doing that after, oh, five or six years I guess. Since I grew up in Tennessee I didn't often get to use my toe's ability. :) And it didn't ache for rain, at least not that I remember.
 

hjwilde

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I injured my hip 19 years ago. I generally have no pain or any problem walking at all but if the weather is about to go colder my hip aches - very similar to what Saanen said.

Usually what happens is that I'm asleep and I wake up because my hip is sore and then the weather is different the following day. Accuracy? 100%.

I have also known it was going to snow but I've no idea how - I just thought it would and it did. That could be the smell in the air, the type of weather we were having at the time... not sure.

I like what dclary said about being able to feel the change in pressure on his skin. I think that could work very well.

Hope that helps :)

H
 

Unique

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When I lived up North .... where it snows in abundance, I learned I could tell when it was going to snow.

My bones and my joints would start aching as if they were being crushed. I'd dose myself up with aspirin and Tylenol and when I'd wake up --- sure as ---- there'd be snow on the ground in the morning.

I believe it had to do with the changes in barometric pressure. There are things in your joints called 'baroreceptors'. Apparently some people's are more sensitive than others.

You could ask Neuro what those things are made of - I don't recall. Nerve cell bundles --- gee, it's been too long. I'd have to dig out the books and they're buried deep.

.
 

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Snow Smellers

I have also known it was going to snow but I've no idea how - I just thought it would and it did. That could be the smell in the air, the type of weather we were having at the time... not sure.


I’m the same. I can generally tell in the evening when it’s either going to snow or the temperature will fall below freezing overnight. For me, too, the air smells different somehow—cleaner and crisper. A friend of mine described it as "dry". It might just be the evening temperature, though. I think I learned this by practice. When I was a child, during the summer we kept plants on the porch and as autumn progressed we’d go out in the evening to “check” if it would frost that night and we had to bring the plants indoors or cover any of the not-yet-harvested garden plants. My grandfather could sense it somehow and I picked up the ability.

And our cats got really nervous for a day or so before any type of earthquake, but that's not really weather, I suppose. :)

Z

 

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I have two "baroreceptors" (cool word!).

One is my sinuses. When the weather changes I get a headache and my sinuses clog.
Also, I broke by big toe once (I went to kick DH, who was being a jerk, missed, and hit the leg of the dresser...instant karma ;->). Now it aches when the weather is starting to get cold or damp. The older I get, the more joints have become sensitive to this.

Both of them kick in hours before the weather has visibly changed. OTC pain killers usually nullify the pain.
 

Saanen

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Zisel said:


And our cats got really nervous for a day or so before any type of earthquake, but that's not really weather, I suppose. :)

Z


Actually, I can tell when weather is moving in (generally a cold front) because of the way my cats act. They start playing and all but climbing the walls, way way more than usual. It's a phenomenon I have dubbed "cats and the weather." (Well, it's catchy to me.)
 

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I have a bizarre compulsion to tidy up when the barometer drops dramatically, for a big rain or snow storm. I get all 'nesty' even if I'm unaware of the weather report.
 

TheIT

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Thanks, this is interesting. I once told someone it smelled like fall outside, and he looked at me like I was insane. There's a certain snap to the air when it gets chilly, and coming from the Midwest, I always associate it with autumn.
 

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I -- and everyone I know who lives here -- can smell rain coming.

And like most people with old fractures, I can feel when it's going to snow. My sister gets a migraine any time the barometer drops.
 

ChaosTitan

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My roommate broke her ankle many years ago. It was set with several steel pins. When the weather makes a big change (dry spell to lots of rain, or when a snowstorm is coming), the joint hurts and her ankle starts to swell.
 

TheIT

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All right, so the two types of "sensing" appear to be variations on pain and smell. That'll work.

The character in my story will probably be able to sense normal weather, too, but that's not her main talent. This world is plagued by magic storms where reality goes crazy for while. They're extremely dangerous and usually fatal if you're caught in one. My character can sense the approach of such a storm because she has a magically augmented sense of touch.

What I'm imagining is that instead of an ache she'll feel a crawling sensation, like ants crawling on her skin or like being too close to a strong electrical field. The sensation starts about twelve hours before the storm hits and increases as the storm approaches to a burning sensation. It's extremely unpleasant for her, and while the storm is overhead, it's downright painful. Instead of reacting to pressure, she's reacting to too much energy in the air.

I'm still interested in hearing about other real world examples of sensing weather, so please feel free to add more.
 

Cath

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When there's a storm coming, I get really restless - actually I see my cats doing it too - I can't sit still and I find myself really on edge for no reason. I've always put it down to the electricity in the air, although that's based on no scientific evidence at all!
 

TheIT

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Cath said:
When there's a storm coming, I get really restless - actually I see my cats doing it too - I can't sit still and I find myself really on edge for no reason. I've always put it down to the electricity in the air, although that's based on no scientific evidence at all!

That's the kind of feeling I'm imagining for my character. She'll be in a very irritable mood all day with a very short fuse on her temper. It's going to make for some fun story situations because she hates to show weakness and she's dealing with someone she can't afford to offend. Well, fun for me, the author. :D

Which brings me to another question. If you can sense the weather through pain, at what point do you feel some relief?
 

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TheIT said:
Some people seem to be able to sense changes in the weather. For example, if a storm's coming, their trick knee starts to hurt. I'm looking for examples of people being able to feel a change. What sort of feeling is it? How far in advance of the weather event? How accurate?

Hmm...

Just before the temperature starts to drop below 25 C, I usually start sneezing.

And just as it drops to approx. 15 C, I stop sneezing.

If the weather feels like typhoon, before it's broadcast, I'll get very irritable because I'm responding to the increasing temperature and humidity.

OTOH, if it's about to snow, smell normally plays a part -- the air is drier, crisper, clearer.

And as far as rain is concerned, I think just looking at the sky or sensing the 'mugginess' in the air is as far as I get.

Generally, accuracy varies widely.
 

hjwilde

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TheIT said:
Thanks, this is interesting. I once told someone it smelled like fall outside, and he looked at me like I was insane. There's a certain snap to the air when it gets chilly, and coming from the Midwest, I always associate it with autumn.

LOL - I know exactly what you mean. My Mum and I have always talked about "that September morning smell" and we know exactly what we mean (Cold but not unpleasant, a smell of frost in the air and very fresh and clean feeling) but I doubt anyone else would have a clue :D

H
 

hjwilde

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Saanen said:
Actually, I can tell when weather is moving in (generally a cold front) because of the way my cats act. They start playing and all but climbing the walls, way way more than usual. It's a phenomenon I have dubbed "cats and the weather." (Well, it's catchy to me.)

That's really interesting - we've only had our cats a couple of months so I haven't noticed anything like that yet. I'll have to look out for it. I know they don't react at all to thunderstorms - they sat on the windowsill throughout the last one and casually watched the traffic and the passers by <g>.

H
 

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Cats aren't the only ones who know. My horses get crazy before a storm. They are getting up there in years, but when a storm is moving in, everyone is silly and bucking. They act like colts.
 

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If there's a storm threatening, I get a terrible bone-splintering ache in my right knee. It's a really dull, sickening pain and there's nothing I can do but grimace and whinge until the weather does whatever it's going to do.
 

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"that September morning smell" and we know exactly what we mean (Cold but not unpleasant, a smell of frost in the air and very fresh and clean feeling)

Yes. It's the air equivalent of biting into an icy apple.

To get back to the question, I always get a dull headache before thunderstorms and I can sense rain or snow coming because the air feels 'different' against my skin. (Mind you, the big black/yellow clouds might be a bit of a giveaway too.)
 

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Mum smashed her hip and femur in 57 places about 30 years ago. 100% accuracy she can tell you when it is going to rain.

My German Shepard was petrified of storms, she would do anything to get in the house and hide under the stairs hours before storms hit. She was excellent at making it impossible to drag her back out.

Did you get the reports that no land animals were killed in the tsunami? (At least, not in Thailand). Fish etc got washed on shore which killed them, but all the land based animals ran to higher ground at least 30 minutes before the wave hit – even the elephants that were tied to heavy stakes ripped the stakes right out of the ground and ran to safety. I find stuff like that amazing!



Another amazing thing is the number of animal based avators on this thread!
 

rsclark

I have been "blessed" with a bunion on the outside of my foot. Within 12 of a storm moving in, I will get a sudden, splitting pain that requires me to immediately take medication and elevate my foot. This pain feels like a nail is being driven into the tiny bump and then radiates into my little toe. Sometimes, the pain meds don't even work! When my husband asks me what's wrong, I tell him, "A storms a comin."

Boy, am I glad when that storm hits. Also, there is a positive correlation between the amount of pain in my foot and the size of the storm.
 
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