Weather or Not: How weather impacts pollen & allergies

The spring season has arrived, but with that comes spring allergies. Allergy sufferers know the symptoms all too well: sneezing, itchy eyes, and runny nose. Did you know that the weather outside can impact how bad your allergies are?

There are a few factors that go into how bad the allergy season could be: rain, wind, humidity, and temperature.

WIND: On a breezy day, the wind can blow around all the pollen and make it more potent in the air. If the winds are calm, there’s nothing to swoop the pollen into the air and nothing to help it travel. This allows it to stay closer to the ground.

RAIN: Rainy and humid days can help and hurt allergy sufferers. Rain can help add weight to the pollen and allow it to stay towards the ground. Rain can also help grass and other plants grow more. After a few days of rain, the plants could grow more increasing the amount of pollen.

HUMIDITY: The other side of it is that humid days can allow mold to grow at a rapid rate and could impact you if you are allergic to it. Multiple dry days inhibit the grow of plants and tree and in turn less pollen production. This could help people who suffer from spring allergies, but a dry day can also help pick up pollen if it is windy.

TEMPERATURE: As far as temperature, if you have a late freeze, trees and plants won’t bloom as quickly. This will make a shorter allergy season. On the other hand, if it is a mild winter, plants will start to bloom quicker and can extend the allergy season. Warmer temperatures early in the season can also lead to higher pollen amounts in peak allergy season.

If you know your allergies kick up in the spring time, try to avoid extended time outdoors, close your windows, and you can even change your clothes after being outside.

The worst days for allergies would be warm, windy, and dry days. There is nothing to keep the pollen towards the ground and the wind picks the pollen, circulating it in the air. The warm temperatures just allow more and more pollen to be produced on plants and trees. Although you may not like spring showers, they may help your allergies.

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