Pollen: Extreme situation
As allergy sufferers already know, pollen counts are way up there.
We noticed this morning that our gray car had turned a subtle shade of green, and were it not for the torment we could have appreciated what our online editor Joe Gambardello describes as "a free Maaco paint job."
Once again, the tree-pollen count was at the "extreme" level Wednesday morning, according to the official counter at the Asthma Center in Center City.
We don't have the actual number for Wednesday yet, but "extreme" means counts of 1,000 or better, and based on the way we feel, we would assume that today's is in the ballpark with those of the last several days.
Pollen is measured by an air-sampling device atop the roof of a building at Broad and Vine Streets, in Philly, and the counts are estimates of how many pollen grains passed through a volume of air about the size of a refrigerator in the previous 24 hours.
You can read more about the process here.
The tree-pollen count for the 24-hour period that ended Thursday morning was in the rarified zone – 4,219. That's nowhere near a record, but way more than enough to sneeze at.
The count for the period ending Friday morning was 1,938.9; Monday's, 1,415.9, and Tuesday's, 2,853.3. You will find the counts in The Inquirer's daily weather summary.
As Glenn Schwartz mentioned in his debut column on Tuesday, this has been a bone-dry period -- random showers overnight and this morning notwithstanding -- ideal for the flight of pollen.
A few droplets might show up in today's tally, but, officially, through Tuesday no measurable rain had fallen in Philadelphia since April 21, and outside of meds only a good soaking rain is going to relieve the suffering for those with tree allergies.
Fortunately, the grasses haven't started yet, but their days will come; no sneezing before its time.