What's the science behind chinook headaches? Experts still aren't sure
CBC
Many people associate Calgary's warm chinook winds with the onset of headaches, but experts say the science behind the correlation remains unclear.
"There isn't as much as you would expect, that we know for sure, about pressure and headaches," said pediatric neurologist Dr. Serena Orr, an associate professor at the University of Calgary's Cumming School of Medicine.
The existence of chinook headaches isn't just anecdotal: a 2000 study published in the medical journal Neurology established that chinooks increase the likelihood of migraines in some people.
The question remains: why?
Orr, who specializes in headaches, said it most likely has to do with altitude and barometric pressure, which is the force from the atmosphere's weight.
"Higher altitude locations have lower barometric pressure," said Orr. "And in areas at higher altitude there seems to be more prevalence of migraine disease."
Located more than 1,040 metres above sea level, Calgary is considered a high-altitude location. In fact, it's at the highest elevation of any major city in Canada.
But the link between altitude and the likelihood of migraines hasn't been proven, said Orr.
Studies suggest rodents can feel pain and stress from their inner ear systems due to decreases in barometric pressure, but as Orr pointed out, "that hasn't really been worked out in humans."
Orr was among the researchers behind a November 2025 study on the relationship between chinooks and migraines in youth. That study was not able to find a link between the two.
"We expected to see a strong relationship based on older adult studies amongst adults with migraine, where they did find a strong relationship between chinook days and attacks," she said. "We didn't see that in kids, so that was really unexpected, and we are not sure why."
Orr said more research is needed to understand why this latest study's results differed so significantly from previous findings proving a connection between chinooks and headaches.
"It may be how we looked at the data. Maybe just saying 'chinook or not chinook' is not enough. Maybe you need to look at the individual weather parameters," she said.
Age could also be a factor. The brain might react differently to the weather as it ages, Orr suggested.
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