04/18/2023
From US Centralized Extract Lab Silver Spring:
Reportedly, this year so far has been the warmest on record for our Washington, DC region. Temperatures have been averaging some 5-6 degrees above normal and we have recorded 3 record highs and 1 record warm low temperature.
The 1st was the 3rd week in February owing to a surge of cedar/cypress/juniper pollen after temperatures soaring to over 80 degrees. The second peak was last week, where we saw sunny, breezy days in the 80’s, which were well above normal. Not much rain to wash out some of the pollen from the air either.
The daily average for our second weekly period in April (1998-2022 data) is 540 grains/cubic meter. This year our daily average for the 2nd week in April was 1659.90 grains/cubic meter!
The oak catkins are starting to drop from the trees, which is a very good sign as we are probably just past the peak. There is still plenty of pollen out there however.
Tree pollen is HIGH at 1168.37 grains/cubic meter.
Grass pollen is LOW at 1.28 grains/cubic meter of air.
Mold spores are in the LOW range (NAB range) at 2427.38 spores/cubic meter of air, which is more moderate for local area mold spore counts.