Barometric pressure in Christchurch
Pressure has spent the past day rising very rapidly. It is 19 hPa higher than this time yesterday. The rise carries on until this morning.
Sea level reading, as of 03:00 local time.
The past week and the days ahead
The shaded part shows the days already gone. The thicker line is the forecast.
The week ahead
Each day at a glance: how far pressure moves, and the low and high it reaches.
Rises steadily through the day.
17° / 6°low 1015 · high 1020 hPa
Eases down slowly through the day.
18° / 10°low 1016 · high 1019 hPa
Falls first, then climbs in the evening.
19° / 8°10.7 mmlow 1012 · high 1024 hPa
Falls quickly, most of it in the afternoon.
13° / 6°15.7 mmlow 1014 · high 1028 hPa
Dips in the afternoon, and comes back by the end of the day.
16° / 9°2.6 mmlow 1008 · high 1014 hPa
Falls quickly through the day.
13° / 7°low 1003 · high 1014 hPa
Eases down slowly through the day.
13° / 8°0.6 mmlow 999 · high 1006 hPa
Hour by hour
| Hour | Weather and temperature | Rain (mm) | Pressure (hPa) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00:00 |  7° | 1015 | |
| 01:00 | 6° | 1016 | |
| 02:00 | 6° | 1017 | |
| 03:00 | 6° | 1017 | |
| 04:00 | 6° | 1018 | |
| 05:00 | 7° | 1018 | |
| 06:00 | 7° | 1019 | |
| 07:00 | 8° | 1019 | |
| 08:00 |  10° | 1020 | |
| 09:00 | 11° | 1020 | |
| 10:00 | 13° | 1020 | |
| 11:00 | 15° | 1020 | |
| 12:00 | 16° | 1020 | |
| 13:00 | 17° | 1020 | |
| 14:00 |  17° | 1019 | |
| 15:00 | 17° | 1019 | |
| 16:00 |  16° | 1019 | |
| 17:00 | 15° | 1019 | |
| 18:00 | 13° | 1019 | |
| 19:00 | 13° | 1019 | |
| 20:00 | 13° | 1019 | |
| 21:00 | 13° | 1019 | |
| 22:00 | 13° | 1019 | |
| 23:00 | 12° | 1019 |
Biggest change: Thursday, down 11 hPa.
The highest reading, about 1020 hPa, comes this morning; it falls from there.
Christchurch sits 10 m above sea level, so a barometer in the city reads about 1 hPa lower than the sea-level figure. A home station set to the local reading should show about 1016 hPa as of 03:00.
The hours already past are the model's record of each hour as it passed, anchored to real observations, though not a reading from an instrument in Christchurch.
Cities nearby
Open one to see its pressure, or search for your own city at the top of the page.
Watching the sun as well? See how strong the UV is in Christchurch right now, on our sister site 
uvi.today.
Common questions
What is a normal barometric pressure?
Near 1013 hPa at sea level; the exact standard figure, 1013.25 hPa, is the same as 760 mmHg, 29.92 inHg or 101.3 kPa. Anything between roughly 1000 and 1025 hPa is ordinary. Which way it is going matters far more than the number itself.
Why does my own barometer show a different number?
Usually altitude, and sometimes the instrument itself. Weather services correct readings to what they would be at sea level, so that cities can be compared. The figure for Christchurch, which stands 10 m above sea level, is in the note above: about 1 hPa below the sea-level reading. If your barometer is already set to sea level and still reads slightly differently, that is the setting on the instrument rather than the weather.
Is a millibar the same as a hectopascal?
Yes. One millibar and one hectopascal are exactly the same amount of pressure, so 1013 mbar and 1013 hPa mean the same thing. The name changed; the number did not.
Does falling pressure mean rain?
Not by itself. Away from the tropics, falling pressure usually means a low is approaching, and lows carry the fronts that bring cloud and rain, so the two often arrive together. But a shallow fall can pass with nothing more than cloud, and rain falls under steady pressure too. The graph tells you a system is on the way, not how wet it will be. The week ahead, just above, shows the rain forecast beside the pressure.
