Pollen season started three weeks early in GTA
Author of the article:Jane Stevenson
Publishing date:May 01, 2021 • 14 hours ago • 2 minute read • Join the conversation
Allergy season is started early this year.
Allergy season is started early this year. PHOTO BY UNOMAT /Getty Images
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Have you been sneezing more than usual this spring with your eyes itching and watering up a storm?
Well, pollen season (mid-March-mid-October) is definitely underway in the GTA and Daniel Coates, a director at the Aerobiology Research Laboratories in Ottawa provides pollen forecasts to places like The Weather Network, says allergies may feel heightened this year depending on what you’re allergic to.
“This year (allergy season) it started two to three weeks earlier overall, ” said Coates. “We had a much warmer spring than we generally get and so everything started two to three weeks earlier overall.”
“For us, we start seeing very low, low, low levels in mid-March but it usually picks up mid-April,” he added.
For the GTA, Coates said pollen from maple and poplar trees is slightly higher than last year, alder, cedar, and elm is a lot higher while birch is slightly lower but won’t reach its peak for another week or so.
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“Most things are higher but it depends on what you’re allergic to,” said Coates. “Allergies is a very personal thing. So is it higher? Sure. But are the ones who suffer from birch allergies really feeling it right now? Not yet.”
“They will feel it but they feel it more coming up. Oak is (also) coming up and so is pine. Pine’s the yellow stuff on cars you see. It’s not generally considered highly allergic but it’s always a conversation piece. Grass season will be starting soon in Toronto as well,” he said.
The Weather Network’s meteorologist Doug Gillham says the vegetation (leaves, buds, flowers) was running about three weeks ahead of schedule in mid-April due to the early warm weather and that, combined with fewer than usual rainy days last month which help to clear the air of pollen, might have made things worse for allergy sufferers.
Now, Gillham says, the pattern for the first half of May keeps looking “cooler and cooler.”
“Not only will we have a lack of consistent warmth, we will likely have an absence of warmth,”said Gillham, the manager of TWN’s Forecast Centre. “So, the progression of vegetation will really slow down. We should also see a wetter and more active pattern (of weather), which is better for cleaning out the air.”
jstevenson@postmedia.com
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Jane Stevenson
Publishing date:May 01, 2021 • 14 hours ago • 2 minute read • Join the conversation
Allergy season is started early this year.
Allergy season is started early this year. PHOTO BY UNOMAT /Getty Images
Article content
Have you been sneezing more than usual this spring with your eyes itching and watering up a storm?
Well, pollen season (mid-March-mid-October) is definitely underway in the GTA and Daniel Coates, a director at the Aerobiology Research Laboratories in Ottawa provides pollen forecasts to places like The Weather Network, says allergies may feel heightened this year depending on what you’re allergic to.
“This year (allergy season) it started two to three weeks earlier overall, ” said Coates. “We had a much warmer spring than we generally get and so everything started two to three weeks earlier overall.”
“For us, we start seeing very low, low, low levels in mid-March but it usually picks up mid-April,” he added.
For the GTA, Coates said pollen from maple and poplar trees is slightly higher than last year, alder, cedar, and elm is a lot higher while birch is slightly lower but won’t reach its peak for another week or so.
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STORY CONTINUES BELOW
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
“Most things are higher but it depends on what you’re allergic to,” said Coates. “Allergies is a very personal thing. So is it higher? Sure. But are the ones who suffer from birch allergies really feeling it right now? Not yet.”
“They will feel it but they feel it more coming up. Oak is (also) coming up and so is pine. Pine’s the yellow stuff on cars you see. It’s not generally considered highly allergic but it’s always a conversation piece. Grass season will be starting soon in Toronto as well,” he said.
The Weather Network’s meteorologist Doug Gillham says the vegetation (leaves, buds, flowers) was running about three weeks ahead of schedule in mid-April due to the early warm weather and that, combined with fewer than usual rainy days last month which help to clear the air of pollen, might have made things worse for allergy sufferers.
Now, Gillham says, the pattern for the first half of May keeps looking “cooler and cooler.”
“Not only will we have a lack of consistent warmth, we will likely have an absence of warmth,”said Gillham, the manager of TWN’s Forecast Centre. “So, the progression of vegetation will really slow down. We should also see a wetter and more active pattern (of weather), which is better for cleaning out the air.”
jstevenson@postmedia.com
Pollen season started three weeks early in GTA
Have you been sneezing more than usual this spring with your eyes itching and watering up a storm?