News - Blogs - With summer weather comes a change in allergens

With summer weather comes a change in allergens
Published: 6/23/2011 7:00 AM
Last Modified: 6/23/2011 12:56 AM

Tree pollen is out and grass is in. But this Mar. 11 file photo shows what many people dread: the start of allergy season. MICHAEL WYKE/Tulsa World

While Heather Lantz may be enjoying studytime in the grass April 12 at Oral Roberty University, this would be impossible for some. MIKE SIMONS/Tulsa World

I am one of those lucky people who can take a handful of fresh-cut grass, rub it in my face and run a mile afterward.

Now, I’m not trying to rub this in. Some of you out there could probably die from doing something so extreme. Many friends of mine start sneezing just thinking about the lawn mower.

For many, spring is the kick-off of allergy season. But now, as of 12:16 p.m. Tuesday, it is summertime, which can signal a shift for many allergy sufferers.

The three main culprits—tree, grass and weed—have different onsets and peaks throughout the year. Mid-June is the end of tree pollen (for the most part), while late-May is the peak of grass. Though, for you grass sufferers out there, this is not news.

Now, for a quick refresher: Seasonal allergy symptoms—sneezing, itchy eyes, and in the worst cases, asthma—are caused by the body’s overreaction to allergens. For seasonal allergy sufferers, those are generally pollen.

Grass allergies have the longest season, from mid-April to early-October. Weed pollen is the next to hit, about mid-July to early-November. Tree pollen comes with spring—about February to now.

The weather patterns of the seasons have an effect on this, as well. Wet springs can trigger more grass pollen, for example.

According to The Weather Channel’s pollen history, grass pollen was been high for much of June. Though recently, it’s been in the moderate category.

So as we begin the summer dry-out and heat-up, we can also look forward to reduced grass pollen. But weed season is around the corner, so stock up on the antihistamines and tissues. I’ll be playing in the park. (OK…now I’m rubbing it in.)

--Jerry Wofford

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Almanac

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec

	Temperature		Precipitation
Date	High Temp	Low Temp	Total	Month to date	Historical average
1	44°	16°	0	0.00	0.05
2	59°	24°	0	0.00	0.11
3	57°	33°	0	0.00	0.16
4	68°	37°	Trace	0.00	0.21
5	69°	29°	0	0.00	0.26
6	66°	33°	0	0.00	0.32
7	59°	38°	0.05	0.05	0.38
8	51°	34°	0	0.05	0.44
9	44°	36°	0.01	0.06	0.51
10	62°	37°	0.07	0.13	0.57
11	54°	28°	0	0.13	0.64
12	44°	30°	0.25	0.38	0.70
13	55°	40°	0.01	0.39	0.76
14	°	°			0.83
15	°	°			0.89
16	°	°			0.95
17	°	°			1.02
18	°	°			1.09
19	°	°			1.16
20	°	°			1.23
21	°	°			1.31
22	°	°			1.38
23	°	°			1.46
24	°	°			1.53
25	°	°			1.61
26	°	°			1.69
27	°	°			1.77
28	°	°			1.85

TEMPERATURE

RAINFALL

SNOWFALL

Weather World

Follow Jerry Wofford on Twitter for updates during severe weather conditions.

Tulsa weather milestones of 2013 (as of Feb. 12)

Highest temperature: 70 on Jan. 11 (Record: 115 on Aug. 15, 1936)
Lowest temperature: 15 on Jan. 16 (Record: Minus-16 on Jan. 22, 1930)
Hottest month (average): 40.5 degrees in January (Record: 91.7 degrees on July 1980)
Coldest month (average): 40. 5 degrees in January (Record: 21.7 in January 1918)
Most snowfall (day): 0.1 of an inch on Feb. 12(Record: 13.2 inches on Feb. 1, 2011)
Most snowfall (month): 0.1 of an inch in February(Record: 22.5 inches in February 2011)
Most rainfall (day): 0.91 of an inch on Jan. 29 (Record: 9.27 inches on May 26-27, 1984)
Most rainfall (month): 1.54 of an inch in January (Record: 18.18 inches on September 1971)
Highest wind speed: 30 mph on Jan. 30
Previous day with any rain: Feb. 12
Previous day with 1 inch or more of rain: Oct. 17, 2012
Previous day with any snow: Feb. 12
Previous day with freezing temperatures: Feb. 12
Read regular updates on Oklahoma's unpredictable weather and learn more about meteorology from the Tulsa office of the National Weather Service.

>> Visit the main weather page
>> Send us your weather photos
>> Meet the forecasters

Contributors
Staff Writer Althea Peterson started writing for the Tulsa World in March 2007 after previous stops at the Norman Transcript in 2006 and the Oklahoma Gazette in 2005. She followed her older brother from rural Wisconsin (with a public school that never seemed to call snow days) to the University of Oklahoma, but did not follow his pursuit to study meteorology. However, she tries to find as many opportunities to report on the weather as possible.

Staff Writer Jerry Wofford came to the Tulsa World in 2010 from The Manhattan Mercury in Manhattan, Kan. Originally from western Arkansas and a graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Jerry has lived in Tornado Alley his entire life and is one of those people who goes outside when the sirens go off.

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