Houston oak pollen count breaks record for month of March

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- If your allergies are flaring up today, it's for good reason.

Strong winds from the last two days have sent oak pollen counts soaring into record territory. Thursday morning's sample from the city of Houston came in at 7,958 oak pollen particles per cubic meter of air. That means nearly 8,000 oak pollen particles are floating around in a volume of air the size of a standard washing machine. This is the highest count in March sampled by the city of Houston since records began in 2013.

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Historically the oak pollen count peaks around this time of year during the third week of March, but back in 2022 the oak pollen season ended with a major crescendo in April. On April 6, 2022, the count came in at a sinus-aggravating 9,489, but the very next day it surged to 10,704! Those are the two highest counts on record for any month of the year followed by today's count.

In a typical oak pollen season the count will peak just shy of 4,000. Oak pollen counts can be heavily impacted by the weather. When we get frequent rainfall in March, the count is held in check as pollen gets washed away. When it is mostly dry and windy like our March so far, the counts can soar to astronomical levels. Houston's official rain gauge has collected .64" of rain since the start of the month. Most of that fell on March 4th before many oak trees started their annual pollen production.

Oak counts usually continue at a moderate-to-low level through April and will pick up behind any cool fronts blowing in pollen from other parts of the state.

SEE ALSO: Why pollen season is starting earlier and how it could affect allergies