United States

By Grace Muller, AccuWeather.com Staff Writer

August 17, 2012; 4:58 AM

Share |

People with allergies look at the world differently than other people. Where some see spring's brilliant flowers, allergy sufferers see weeds. Despite the fact that drought shrivels pollen-producing plants, a lack of rain can make an allergy sufferer as miserable as spring's bounty.

From the latest numbers published by the United States Drought Monitor, it looks like a lot of people will be miserable. Around 70% of the country is abnormally dry, with more than 50% dry enough to be called a drought. When there is no rain, pollen stays floating in the air.

"Rain clears the air as it comes through the atmosphere," Dr. Scott Cordray, an ear, nose and throat doctor in Tulsa, Okla., said. "[The water] captures the pollens and takes them to the ground, washing the air if you will."

Cordray says at his practice, many patients come to him with reactions to cedar pollen, even though there are no cedar trees in the area. His best guess is that the south wind out of Texas blows cedar pollen between 200 and 300 miles into northeastern Oklahoma.

"With drought, you have a lot of wind and it keeps blowing around," he said. "What most people don't realize, pollen can travels hundreds of miles. Even if you don't have certain pollens in your area, they can still travel hundreds of miles in the wind. [Cedar pollen] affects our area significantly."

The doctor also said that the number of patients coming to him has increased since the drought started in the state. To add to the problem of more pollen, dry air dries out allergy sufferers' nasal cavities. If a patient takes allergy medication, they can further dry out a patient's nose, even causing bleeding.

Drought can also extend the warm weather season.

"Dry weather breeds more dry weather," AccuWeather Meteorologist Meghan Evans said. "When you have dry weather drying out the ground, it reenforces a dry weather pattern. It's easier [for the sun] to warm the dry ground and an area of high pressure can remain dominant. It's a cyclical pattern."

What that means is that dry weather at the end of winter brings warm weather sooner, so spring plant allergens can be a problem early on.

"Drought brings spring sooner and fall later, so you have more pollens in the air because of that as well," Cordray said.

For people in affected areas, Dr. Cordray recommends using saline sprays to rinse the nasal passages.

Most Common Fall Allergies, Treatment: