Ah Choo! Texas Cities Have Among Nation's Highest Pollen Counts

AUSTIN, TEXAS — Checking on the pollen count is like checking on your 401K: You don't really want to — it's best left out of sight, out of mind, while hoping for the best — but curiosity takes hold. Even in their misery with allergies, those suffering this season likely want to check either to confirm why they're sick or to help them decide when it might be better to avoid the outdoors.

Enter the Weather Channel with its Allergy Tracker one can check each day for pollen readings. The weather site even lets one check the pollen counts at other cities by inputting the data into fields on the Weather Channel page.

So if you've been feeling the misery of allergies, it's not all in your head. The level of tree pollen on Wednesday was very high in Austin, according to the Weather Channel, while grass pollen was, mercifully low. Ragweed pollen? That was negligible. By Thursday, the misery quotient is expected to be similarly high in the Austin area.

But at least you're not living in Springfield, N.J., which had the nation's highest pollen levels on Wednesday at 3,151 parts per million. Atlanta came in 4th, with 1,501 parts per million recorded there.

According to the Texan Allergy & Sinus Center, grass pollen season in Texas begins in early March and doesn't end until grasses stop releasing pollen in (are you sitting down?) mid-October. "As grass released pollen into the air, the wind can carry it for miles on dry, sunny days," the center helpfully adds. Allergies are further exacerbated in Central Texas as elm trees start to bloom in February before releasing pollen by the following month and into May.

As a result, some cities in Texas are among the nation's most pollen-ridden, as tabulations by the Weather Channel show. On Wednesday, three cities in the Lone Star State — Waco, Georgetown and Dallas — registered among the five highest in terms of pollen. Waco registered 3,008 parts per million on Wednesday — the second-highest level of pollen in the U.S. Central Texas was represented in the top 5 list, with the 1,618 ppm in Georgetown good enough for third place nationally. Dallas also had the dubious distinction of making it to the top list at No. 5, with 1,146 parts per million registered.

As if those statistics weren't sobering enough, relief isn't on the horizon anytime soon. The Weather Channel's tree pollen maps show "very high" levels of pollen across much of Texas across a wide swath of Lone Star State real estate — from the Panhandle to North Texas.

To gain some measure of relief, the Weather Channel offers some tips::

• Keep those high-efficiency particulate air filters in the air conditioning unit clean in order to reduce allergen levels inside the home.
• Place clothes in the washer upon arriving home after outdoor activities while avoiding hanging garments out to dry on an outdoor clothes line.
• Note that the most active period for pollen disbursal is between the hours of 5 a.m. to 10 am.
• Use nasal sprays to mitigate symptoms.

And keep those tissues handy.

Check out the Weather Channel's Allergy Tracker by clicking here.

Watch the Discovery News video below if you doubt the pollen output capable of being spewed by a single tree. It's enough to makes sufferers' eyes water, and not just from allergies: