<p>Usually when you hear someone say &quot;high&quot; or &quot;low&quot; pressure, it is an abbreviated way of saying &quot;local maxima&quot; or &quot;local minima.&quot; And usually that pressure is the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_pressure#Mean_sea-level_pressure" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Mean Sea Level Pressure</a>. By that definition, it is a singular point. But if you want to cover an area, you can probably reference a gridded dataset and plot the isobars. Then you can categorize the isobars as <a href="http://tornado.sfsu.edu/geosciences/classes/m835/TornadoExamples/BasicTornadoStructure/Balanced_flow.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">cyclonic (low pressure in Northern Hemisphere) or anticyclonic (high pressure in Northern Hemisphere)</a>. Then you can say if the location is enclosed in either, then it is in the respective area. You can make it however complex you want.</p>
<p>But if you want to create your own &quot;pressure climatology&quot; then you can probably do what you want to do.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-02T17:10:05.447Z
2020-12-02T17:10:05.447Z
BarocliniCplusplus
<p>I am working with a program that I want to inform the atmospheric pressure level at <code>atm</code> and if the pressure is <code>high</code>, <code>low</code> or <code>average</code> in a certain location, but I have not found anywhere on the internet that can give me an idea of how to calculate this. Could anyone tell me <strong>at what level of atmospheric pressure it can be considered low or high?</strong> is there any specific point? Do I need some more information to calculate this?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-02T17:19:17.990Z
The effects of pressure will be dictated by relative, rather than absolute, pressure. An area at 1.1 atm might be a high pressure zone if it's next to a region that's at 1.0 atm, but it would be a low pressure zone if it's next to a region at 1.2 atm. This is why a barometer is typically described as rising or falling (describing *relative* changes in pressure), rather than simply reporting the numerical value of the pressure in isolation.
Nuclear Hoagie
<barometric-pressure>
At what point is the atmospheric pressure considered to be high or low?
Wardy Guardian
# At what point is the atmospheric pressure considered to be high or low?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-12-02)

I am working with a program that I want to inform the atmospheric pressure level at `atm` and if the pressure is `high`, `low` or `average` in a certain location, but I have not found anywhere on the internet that can give me an idea of how to calculate this. Could anyone tell me **at what level of atmospheric pressure it can be considered low or high?** is there any specific point? Do I need some more information to calculate this?

**Tags:** barometric-pressure

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: The effects of pressure will be dictated by relative, rather than absolute, pressure. An area at 1.1 atm might be a high pressure zone if it's next to a region that's at 1.0 atm, but it would be a low pressure zone if it's next to a region at 1.2 atm. This is why a barometer is typically described as rising or falling (describing *relative* changes in pressure), rather than simply reporting the numerical value of the pressure in isolation.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2020-12-02. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

Usually when you hear someone say "high" or "low" pressure, it is an abbreviated way of saying "local maxima" or "local minima." And usually that pressure is the [Mean Sea Level Pressure](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_pressure#Mean_sea-level_pressure). By that definition, it is a singular point. But if you want to cover an area, you can probably reference a gridded dataset and plot the isobars. Then you can categorize the isobars as [cyclonic (low pressure in Northern Hemisphere) or anticyclonic (high pressure in Northern Hemisphere)](http://tornado.sfsu.edu/geosciences/classes/m835/TornadoExamples/BasicTornadoStructure/Balanced_flow.html). Then you can say if the location is enclosed in either, then it is in the respective area. You can make it however complex you want.

But if you want to create your own "pressure climatology" then you can probably do what you want to do.


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