While Allergies Bite, Maybe This Year, Not So Bad…

Yes, Virginia, Spring allergies suck.  But maybe this year... not so much.With Easter and Passover now behind us, the spring allergy season is set to begin making millions across the U.S. miserable. And while there is no shortage of weather forecasters and others singing ‘doom and gloom’ for this allergy season, I am somewhat more optimistic about it. Why would I be optimistic about this spring allergy season you ask? There are a few reasons why I think the ‘doom and gloom’ crowd are missing the mark.

_Don't get me wrong here. Spring allergy season is going to really stink for tens of millions of people. It has, and likely always will, but think back to last year around this time. Do you remember the stories about the upper third of the country being buried under snow? Nope. Instead what we had was record setting high temperatures.

_Remember this? A little digging around shows that temperatures in the upper Midwest ranged as widely as almost 70 degrees warmer on days last year versus the same days this year. Speaking strictly in terms of averages, much of the country is still above temperature averages for 2013 (1.9 degrees according to NOAA), but 2013 went even further (3.6 degrees). All that warmer weather last year meant spring, sprung early.

_More than simply the temperature, the entire jet stream pattern is different. If you check out images from NOAA for March of this year and last year, you can see a big dip in the west that helped pull warmer air and temperatures up and disperse them throughout the country. This year the pattern more closely resembles the norm, and with it has come more normal winter temperatures and a more than healthy amount of snow to much of the country.

_In February of 2012, people in different parts of the country began their annual trek to the allergist, and for most, this was a month sooner than they were used to. It was little wonder though. At the end of last March, we here in Atlanta saw the old pollen count record shattered by 55% (9369 vs. 6013). We didn't see anything even remotely close to that last week.

_Again, I'm not saying spring allergy season took a vacation this year. Sneezing and coughing are likely to be the common sounds you hear for the next couple of months, and now is the time to start preparing for another round of springtime sniffles. However, I don't work for a company that has to make a news story out of everything as mundane as an inch of rain. So, time will tell but, I'm not buying that 2013 will be the worst allergy season ever. To quote Dana Carvey (impersonating G.H. Bush), ‘Wouldn't be prudent. Not gonna do it.’

For good information on comparing historical trends, from year to year, visit The National Climatic Data Center, a division of NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration).

_Author: Kevin Gilmore

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