With the seasons changing, AccuWeather speaks with allergy expert Alan Reppert who forecasts allergy season and breaks down the peak times for pollen allergies such as trees, grass and weed.
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00:00Allen, it's that weird time of year when you have to ask yourself, am I getting sick or is it just allergies?
00:05So what type of pollen usually impacts us first?
00:08Well, the first type of pollen we really see is the tree pollen. That's what we really see
00:13that causes problems with most people here, especially early in this season from most of spring usually and
00:20especially those in the Northeast. We're looking at actually a little bit of relief here from what we typically see and have seen the past
00:26three, four years where we've seen really high tree pollen levels. We're going to see a lot less in the way of tree pollen here,
00:33especially to start things off, but
00:35some of our high levels are really going to be in the Pacific Northwest here as
00:40especially as we get into May and early June.
00:42And while you're in the Northeast, maybe you're looking, oh, okay, it's going to be an average season,
00:47but you're saying that there could be a bad week here or there.
00:50That's right.
00:51We could see, especially on times when we get some dry weather for a couple days and also some warm temperatures for a week or so,
00:58we could see some pretty extreme levels for a day or two.
01:02Hopefully, cold fronts pass through and bring some relief to those that are suffering from allergy symptoms, though.
01:08And as we get later into the season, then grass pollen can be the next to irritate us.
01:13Who do you think is going to have the most challenging season?
01:16Unfortunately, it does look like the Northeast is going to be brought into this for the
01:20pretty high levels of the grass pollen and also the Pacific Northwest, which was already suffering from tree pollen.
01:27They're going to be suffering from
01:29that grass pollen as well.
01:31And it doesn't stop there.
01:33Who's going to experience the worst when it comes to weed pollen?
01:36When can we expect that arrival time?
01:38As we get into, especially later in the summer and into the fall,
01:42that's when we typically see a lot of the weed pollen issues.
01:45That's looking like along the Gulf Coast line and even into parts of the Carolinas
01:50is where we're going to be looking at some of the most severe pollen issues.
01:54But those in the Pacific Northwest, at least, that we're dealing with some pretty high levels for both grass and tree pollen,
02:01they're going to see a little bit of relief from at least the weed pollen.
02:05And Alan, when it comes to different kinds of weather factors, what can make a day a little bit worse
02:09and then what can make things a little bit better?
02:11Usually, if we get some rain, that helps to wash out the air.
02:15As long as it's a heavy enough rain.
02:17If it's not heavy enough, it can actually increase it as the plants have plenty of moisture to work with.
02:23And usually if it's warmer days, that'll help to increase the pollen levels as well.
02:28So anybody suffering, really looking for those cool, rainy days to really come through.
02:35And what kind of tips can you give people and where can they go to find some more allergy information?
02:40We have that all available on AccuWeather, on our AccuWeather app,
02:44and also our website that you can see the pollen for the next 15 days even.
02:48And a way to get around at least some of those pollen symptoms
02:52are really just making sure you take your allergy medicine really before it begins.
02:58That's a big thing.
02:59You don't want to be taking it when you're really in the heart of the season
03:03that you're feeling a lot of the stuffy nose and eyes, feeling issues.
03:10And 15 days out is great and you can do that for anywhere across the country.
03:13So even folks who are traveling, who may be going to a different area that they're not as used to,
03:16that could be really helpful as well.
03:18AccuWeather allergy expert, Alan Ruppert, thanks again for joining us.