It’s that season, again. Allergies are here and the weather doesn’t help.
If you park outside, you’ve probably arrived at your car to find it covered in a fresh coat of yellow pollen.
Many of us start sneezing even before arriving at our cars, and our nasal passages get irritated much more as we open or close the door and all those particles get disturbed.
Truth is that allergens vary throughout the year across Central Florida, some of the more constant offenders are mold, trees, grass, dust mites (common in inland Florida) and pollen.
February has been warm across the entire Peninsula. The warmth likely tricked the pollinators and push them out a bit earlier this season.
WATCH MORE WEATHER FACTS AND HACKS
For example, through Sunday, the average high temperature to date is 81.4 degrees Fahrenheit. The average high temperature for February in Orlando is 73.9 degrees.
If we tally the highs and lows and get an average, we call this a mean average, this February up to Tuesday (Feb. 19) equals to 70.3 degrees, that´s 7.8 degrees above the mean average.
Currently there are high levels of grass, pollen, oak and juniper. They are also forecast to continue high during the next five days, according to Pollen.com
And if you are hoping for relief, climate outlooks are still showing temperatures to remain well-above average for the next three months, and we all know that summer is coming up afterward. A warm winter or spring does not mean that the summer will be significantly warmer than average, but we are looking to continue with the warmer-than-average temperature trend, after the brief break we had in January. Before January, there were 22 months with consecutive above-average temperatures.
READ MORE: 22-consecutive-month record of having above-average temperatures.
Another factor that has played an important fact in the pollen takeover across the area is that we just haven’t received rain to wash it out. On average, Orlando receives 2.38 inches of rain during the entire month of February. Up to Tuesday, Orlando has officially received 0.39 inches of rain, and the forecast does not show any significant rain through the end of the month.
Here are some tips to deal with the allergy season and the warmth.
- Make sure to wash your hands when you get inside.
- Change your clothes and shoes as soon as you get home.
- Avoid line drying your clothing and bedding items.
- Keep your house windows and doors shut as much as possible.
- Make sure to shampoo your hair and bathe daily, especially before heading to bed.
- Wear sunglasses to protect your eyes as much as possible from allergens, wear a mouth-nose mask when the pollen count is high.
- Pollen levels are higher in the morning and gradually decrease through the day.
- Pollen gets washed out right after a heavy shower; try heading outdoors after a shower
- Try using saline nasal spray to clear out nasal passages.
- Consult your doctor.
Cox Media Group
