Increasing drought brings increasing allergens

If you’re an allergy sufferer, keep the tissues handy. Late summer and early fall isn’t typically know as peak sniffling season, but this year it very well could be. With an increasing drought across the area, some allergens may be more of an issue than normal for this time of the year.

Since lack of rainfall shrivels pollen producing plants, it may be instinctual to assume dry conditions would decrease allergens, but it’s actually quite the opposite. With little rain in the forecast pollens stay suspended in the air, and winds can create for a worsening effect by carrying allergens up to 300 miles. Rain showers can help “shower”, or clean, the atmosphere. As the precipitation falls to the ground the water captures the bothersome particles, washing away allergens from the atmosphere and ground. If you pay close enough attention, you’ll notice after heavy rainfall pollen counts will typically drop the next day.

Specifically, Ragweed may be a pollen that will reek havoc on your allergies this time of year. The pollen reaches it’s prime by late August to September, and the weather trends can have a big impact on this. Hot and humid weather with lack of rainfall is the perfect trifecta for high Ragweed counts. With warm & muggy nights during this time of year, Ragweed releases it’s pollen. The one thing to stop the release of Ragweed? Rain… and we don’t have it.

With 98% of the state in a drought, you may have to grab some extra tissues on the next trip to the store.