Can Fido predict the weather?

You may have heard that pets, especially dogs, can sense when bad weather would hit. My own pets even hide when storms are nearby, so I wanted to dive into how they know without looking at the ABC17 Stormtrack Weather App. 

Some pets will run and hide or perk up their ears before lightning strikes. Others will cower hours before storms move through their hometown. Pets, especially dogs, are more sensitive to stark pressure changes. It’s this sensitivity that oftentimes alerts pets that weather is coming.

You see, most weather, including severe thunderstorms, come from low pressure systems and associated frontal systems.  As the name suggests, low pressure systems bring lower pressure to an area just as high pressure systems bring higher pressure to an area! When a dog senses these changes, it can cause them to behave differently. 

Now, my dogs are pretty goofy and sometimes act oddly for no reason at all, so I wouldn’t use them as my only warning system. It’s always a good idea to have several warning sources lined up before severe weather hits.