High Barometric Pressure Records Challenged Saturday

An unusually strong high-pressure system is moving over the northern Plains today, causing extreme pressure readings. But will they break records? Most evidence I have seen says no, but there's not much of a margin for error. Generally, pressure records in the northern U.S. are around or over 31.00" Hg, which is about 1050 mb.

Blog reader Mike H. pointed out that Dave Murray had posted a discussion on Facebook discussing the extreme high pressure. Today's HPC surface map shows a 1049 mb high this morning, so it warrants an investigation. CoolWx.com shows that a couple stations have passed that 1050 mark this morning:

This is what the current pressure map looks like right now (noon ET Saturday) (see also CoolWx):

But what matters (in weather history) is what specific stations are reading, and typically there are only 2-3 stations per state that maintain pressure records. I hand checked the records at many of these stations this morning (versus the 4-KM WRF model's predictions) - as far southeast as Missouri - and the most likely candidate I found was Sioux Falls, South Dakota, whose record is 31.12 inches, but the map shows closer to 31.00 inches.

I didn't have time to look at every station's record, so if you find others that are within 0.10", post a comment below.