Pollen Levels About To Spike In NoVa, DC: Allergy Forecast

If you're ready for some warm weather later this week, it will come at a cost for some. Pollen levels are expected to skyrocket in Northern Virginia and DC beginning Thursday, so get ready for allergy symptoms and that irritating film of yellow-green dust building up on your car.

The pollen outlook in Washington, DC is expected to change from moderate to high from Wednesday to Thursday, according to the Weather.com allergy tracker. It will only worsen with very high pollen levels predicted from Friday throughout the weekend.

Trees are the main culprit to the pollen cloud and allergies, with the maple, elm and juniper trees wreaking the most havoc on people with allergies, according to Pollen.com. Grass pollen and and outdoor mold spore levels are relatively low, while breathing comfort is very good, Weather.com reports.

The worst times for allergies are typically dry, windy days. The current forecast shows little chance for rain until Sunday morning, and winds could reach up to 20 mph over the weekend.

This would be the first time in 2018 the DC area records very high pollen levels. By comparison, last year's highest pollen count in DC was 2,668 on April 17. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here.)

Such heavy pollen can be irritating, even uncomfortable, for all of us. But it's particularly troubling for people with allergies — which are abnormally sensitive or strong reactions by the immune system to a particular substance, like pollen. About 35 million Americans are sensitive to pollen, according to the National Institutes of Health.

The most common symptoms of such allergies include runny nose, post-nasal drip, sneezing, congestion, coughing and itchy or watery eyes. More rarely, they can cause headaches, loss of taste and smell, low productivity and poor concentration, fatigue, sleep disturbances and snoring.

While completely avoiding this level of pollen is impossible, Patient First medical centers offers the following tips for dealing with heavy pollen, particularly for people with allergies:

• Stay indoors on dry, windy days. The best time to go outside is after a rain, which helps clear pollen from the air.
• Delegate lawn mowing, weed pulling and other gardening chores that stir up allergens.
• After spending time outside, take a shower to rinse pollen from your skin and hair and put on clean clothes.
• Wear a face mask if you do outside chores.
• Start taking over-the-counter antihistamines when high pollen counts are forecasted even before your symptoms start.
• Use air conditioning in your house and car.
• Wash your bedding in hot water.
• Vacuum and clean floors frequently.
• Use high efficiency air filters and change them frequently.
• Use mattress and pillow covers.

Patch editor Doug Gross contributed to this report.

Image via Jaroslav Moravcik/Shutterstock