Why cedar didn't spike Friday, but will soon

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Typically after a December or January cold front, mountain cedar pollen jumps up and bothers many allergy sufferers here in Central Texas. With our very strong Arctic cold front that pushed through on Thursday, the cedar count actually dropped by Friday morning!

KXAN spoke with Elizabeth McGreevy, local author of the book "Wanted! Mountain Cedar: Dead and Alive" and CEO of non-profit Roots in Karst. She blames the lack of a cedar pollen spike on the potency of the cold front Thursday.

According to McGreevy, "the temperatures dropped a lot...it seems the pollen gets around better when the temperatures are between about 30-40 degrees and it got really cold last night."

She added, "this thing blew all night long and all day yesterday. It literally could have blown the pollen out of the area."

Ideal conditions for increasing cedar pollen would be several days with relative humidity less than 50%, temperatures between 30 and 40 degrees and a more "normal" passage of a cold front.

Cedar pollen spike coming

While the exceptionally cold and very windy nature of our Arctic cold front may have helped us temporarily, it appears our luck might not long for much longer.

McGreevy added that rising barometric pressure into Christmas weekend with low relative humidity levels will only encourage cedar pollen levels to increase over the coming days.

Temperatures rising into that more optimal 30-40 degree range during the weekend into early next week will also help promote the spread of cedar pollen.