What is barometric pressure and what does it mean when it comes to hurricanes?

Question

I keep seeing that Hurricane Milton has record pressure but I don’t understand it. What does pressure of 905 mb mean and why is it important for understanding the size and scale (and potential devastation) of a hurricane?

In: Planetary Science

Answer 1

In highschool, the science teacher lit a cigarette and blew a puff of smoke into an empty 5 gallon water jug. He pointed at the hazy jug and said “that’s low pressure”. Then he put his mouth on the jug, blew in and the smoke cleared. He stood up and said “that’s high pressure”.
Almost 50 years later and I still remember.