hPa (hectopascal)

Hectopascal (hPa) is a unit used to measure atmospheric pressure, which is the force exerted by the weight of air in the atmosphere. Think of it as measuring how heavy the air is pressing down on a specific area. One hPa equals 100 pascals, a standard unit in physics. Standard sea-level pressure is around 1013 hPa. Changes in atmospheric pressure influence weather patterns: high pressure generally means calm, clear weather, while low pressure can bring storms and rain. It's a common unit in weather forecasting to describe how the atmosphere is behaving.