April 6, 2016
allergies, allergy symptoms, frost, mold, pollen, pollen count, spring

Jersey farmers aren’t the only ones thinking about this spring’s frost…

“It’s interesting how clear the air gets when there’s frost,” remarks Dr. Dvorin, Delaware Valley’s only official pollen and mold spore counter as he finished counting today’s air sample.

Our entire region was under a “frost warning” overnight.  Within the City of Philadelphia, the mercury did drop below 32 degrees for a short while.  Of more significance to plant life, our suburban communities saw much lower temperatures for a longer period of time.   

“Weather plays such an important role in pollen and mold counts,” reminds Dr. Dvorin.  

In order to understand “what’s (not) in the air today,” weather data is sometimes the most useful. To better understand how the cold snap affected today’s pollen count, Dr. Dvorin took a look at NOAA data this morning from all the suburban communities around our office locations.

In Pennsylvania from Bucks and Delaware Counties, and New Jersey from Camden, Mercer, and Ocean Counties, a pattern emerged: all areas reported temperatures below freezing for at least seven hours overnight, with most low temps settling in the mid-20s sometime between 5:30 a.m. and 7:00 a.m.  Down the shore, near The Asthma Center’s Forked River, NJ office, temperatures dipped as low 16 degrees.

“Our patients who have been struggling with allergies and nasal congestion say there is some relief with this cold snap,” Dr. Dvorin reports.  “With trees and freezing temperatures, the buds that had started to open will tighten up to protect the process,” he explains.  “And if temperatures warm up – trees usually need about 48 hours or so—the buds will begin to reopen.”   

Could 2016 bring early spring allergies and bad blueberries?

While frost can mean temporarily good news for allergy suffers, blueberry lovers and local farmers alike are holding their breath to see what the warm weather means for this year’s crop. Frost can be devastating to blueberries, and Hammonton (the “blueberry capital of the world”) now waits to see much harm the frost brought. 

While we may have to wait for the news on Jersey blueberries, allergy sufferers don’t have to wait for Delaware Valley’s pollen and mold spore count. Check back daily for Dr. Dvorin’s updates and The Asthma Center pollen and mold spore counts or subscribe to receive The Asthma Center’s Daily Pollen and Mold Spore Count email.

Get Relief-Saturday appointments are available!

The best way to manage your allergies is to find out exactly what’s causing your symptoms. The Asthma Center has 9 locations in PA & NJ with the following Saturday hours in addition to our normal Monday – Friday business hours.

• April 16: our Bala Cynwyd, PA and Langhorne, PA offices will be seeing patients.
• April 23: the Northeast Philadelphia (Welsh Road) office will be seeing patients.
• April 30 and May 14: the Laurel, NJ location will be seeing patients.
• May 14 and June 4: the Langhorne, PA office will be seeing patients.

Watch Dr Dvorin’s explanation of the weather’s impact on our pollen season here.