# Why do windy days make my toilet act funny?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-windy-days-make-my-toilet-act-funny/537803
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [April 29, 2010, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-windy-days-make-my-toilet-act-funny/537803 "2010-04-29T23:25:44Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2010, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-windy-days-make-my-toilet-act-funny/537803/1 "2010-04-29T23:25:44Z")
Well, that pretty much says it. The wind is howling here today, gusting over 50 mph. The water in my toilet (bowl, not the tank I didn’t look there) is pretty low and sloshing around some. So, why?
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### Author:  [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2010, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-windy-days-make-my-toilet-act-funny/537803/2 "2010-04-29T23:28:57Z")
There is a vent on your roof attached to the toilet drain. Air blowing across the vent creates a suction, which pulls water from the bowl.
ETA: windy here today, too.
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### Author:  [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2010, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-windy-days-make-my-toilet-act-funny/537803/3 "2010-04-29T23:31:44Z")
the gods are angry.
the toilet drain is also open to a vent pipe on the roof which is open to the air, this is needed for the drains to work properly.
the wind blowing over this drain pipe causes pressure changes in the vent stack and you can see that effect in toilet bowls especially on the upper floors. it might also pull water out of the bowl and lower it.
i see i’m a slower typist also.
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### Author:  [@bagger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bagger)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2010, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-windy-days-make-my-toilet-act-funny/537803/4 "2010-04-29T23:51:46Z")
Wind is part of a low pressure system that causes an extra tornado like effect in your toilet bowl causing extra suction action. Just thought I would put in my 2 cents worth of misinformation.
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2010, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-windy-days-make-my-toilet-act-funny/537803/5 "2010-04-29T23:59:17Z")
Are you talking about the outside wind . . . or the wind you sometimes make when sitting on the toilet?
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### Author:  [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2010, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-windy-days-make-my-toilet-act-funny/537803/6 "2010-04-30T00:19:40Z")
It could be snakes.
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### Author:  [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2010, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-windy-days-make-my-toilet-act-funny/537803/7 "2010-04-30T00:25:00Z")
Thanks for the excellent informative answers!
Also for the funny ones.
PS: I killded the snakes with my butt-wind.
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### Author:  [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2010, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-windy-days-make-my-toilet-act-funny/537803/8 "2010-04-30T00:53:13Z")
> [@panache45](#):
>
> Are you talking about the outside wind . . . or the wind you sometimes make when sitting on the toilet?
I thought Brits had wind and North Americans had gas.
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### Author:  [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)
#### Post date: [May 1, 2010, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-windy-days-make-my-toilet-act-funny/537803/9 "2010-05-01T02:09:43Z")
New advanced class in meteorology: Weather Forecasting by Toilet Activity!
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2010, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-windy-days-make-my-toilet-act-funny/537803/10 "2010-05-02T04:02:01Z")
Better still: how sheeps’ bladders may be employed to prevent earthquakes!
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### Author:  [@Anachronism](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anachronism)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2010, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-windy-days-make-my-toilet-act-funny/537803/11 "2010-05-02T13:00:29Z")
Just to add… One of the purposes of the water in the toilet bowl is to prevent sewer gases from entering your house. All plumbing fixtures have a ‘trap’ for this purpose (the ‘P’ shaped bend you see under your sinks). The vent through the roof is to prevent the water from the traps from being siphoned out -except the toilet, which is supposed to be siphoned out when you flush it, then refills when the tank does.