The thunderstorm asthma season has begun in Victoria. Authorities warn this season could be worse than previous springs due to dry winter conditions and forecast rain until December.
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00:00It's a very particular type of condition that causes these events.
00:07We're talking about pollen in the air.
00:09It's linked to a particular type of grass, rye grass, as well as very certain weather
00:15conditions.
00:16So things like thunderstorms are a cool change in the weather with high winds.
00:20Now those winds pick up the pollens, essentially they break them down into small particles
00:25and those small particles are what you breathe in and essentially cause these asthma conditions.
00:32Now authorities are warning that this year it is a bit of an average at the moment thunderstorm
00:38asthma season that we're expecting, but it's really dependent on the next couple of weeks
00:43and months even in terms of what the weather does and that could essentially change that
00:48prediction.
00:49So here's a little bit of what the BOM had to say earlier today.
00:53The conditions out there, the soil moisture's quite dry, so there hasn't been as much grass
00:58growth as previous years, but if we do see an increase in rainfall in the next few weeks,
01:04month then we could be heading towards a more normal amount of grass growth and so therefore
01:12a slightly higher than average thunderstorm asthma risk season.
01:17So the advice to people, particularly those who suffer asthma and hay fever is to book
01:22in and see your GP now to make sure that you have a plan in place.
01:26If you need any sort of asthma puffer or medication you can get that under control.
01:30Make sure you're doing that early and don't wait for these high risk days.
01:34At the moment today it's a green day, it's a relatively low risk day, but you can keep
01:38on top of the alerts via the Vic emergency app or website.
01:42They usually have a three day rolling forecast so that you can see what the risk levels are
01:48and make sure you are keeping your medication on you.
01:52The best advice on those high risk days for people who do suffer asthma or hay fever is
01:56to stay indoors.
01:57Now we do remember back in 2016 there was that extremely bad thunderstorm asthma event
02:02where ten people died and thousands of others were impacted and had difficulties breathing.
02:08So this is something that the health authorities are taking very seriously.
02:11They're reminding people to stay vigilant, make sure you do book in that GP appointment
02:16and you are prepared in case there is a high risk day.