MAINE, USA — A few things come to mind when we think of the spring. Blooming flowers, green trees, rain showers ... and allergies.
Allergies are the uninvited guest to the nicer weather. Many think the rain helps alleviate allergies and wash the air out for some reprieve. It does, but that's only partially true.
Before the rain begins, pollen is floating in the air, covering our cars and giving some people the sniffles. When the rain begins, that all starts to change.
The rain essentially washes the air as its falling. The falling water pulls airborne pollen down as it falls. This gets the pollen out of the air ... temporarily.
After the rain ends, everything takes a turn for the worse. Rain cleans the air while also breaking open blooms and smashing pollen into smaller pieces. Those smaller pieces can become airborne much more easily when the rain has finished.
If this rain came with a cold front, higher winds will usually follow behind, which blows even more pollen into the air.
And last but not least, rain helps plants grow, which means even more pollen.
We can see that when we look at the pollen forecast for this weekend.
Rain fell for a good portion of this week. Now that the rain has ended, we have high pollen counts for the next few days. It begins to get better on Monday as we begin another rainy work week.
Sometimes rainbows come out after it rains, but pollen normally follows along as well.
- Aaron