What do you think of when you think of spring? Flowers, sunshine, birds chirping? What about allergies? Well, the spring season is here and so is allergy season!
Here is the allergy report for today April 21, 2016:
Trees -- 5475 grs/cubic meters in the very high range for oak, maple, elm, poplar, beech, birch, hickory, sycamore, willow, ash.
Grass -- 135 grs/cubic meters in the very high range.
Weeds -- 60 grs/cubic meters in the high range english plantain, sorrel.
Total Pollen -- 5670 grs/cubic high in the very high range.
Molds -- 196 grs/cubic meters in the moderate range.
This is by far the highest ever pollen count. The question is why is the pollen so high this season?
One reason is the blizzard that occurred this past January. Heavy precipitation during the fall and winter puts stress on plants, so instead of making more leaves they make more flowers which leads to more pollen. Therefore, the production of pollen is enhanced, especially grass pollen.
Also, temperatures are at fault. The higher the mercury during the summer, the higher the pollen will be in the spring that follows. Ups and downs in the temperatures also cause pollen to be high.
Lastly, you may want to start thinking about the sex of your trees because male trees produce pollen and female trees have seeds that fall on the ground.
Make sure you have your allergy medicine and several boxes of Kleenex handy because the pollen is out in full force this season!
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