Bad news for NJ allergy suffers — a pollen spike is coming

A New Jersey pollen expert says all of the recent snow has provided a lot of moisture for pollen-producing plants this spring.

Dr. Leonard Bielory of the Asthma and Allergy Research Center in Springfield said this month's collection of storms kept pollen counts down. — for a little while.

"With the nor'easters that we have been having, every couple of days we get 'scrubbed down,'" he said.

But don't expect the break to last long.

"People think that the allergy season starts, perhaps, later into March. But actually the first pollens were being noted at the end of February this year, which is in the normal range, and started to rise in its normal ways," Bielory said.

Bielory said those storms also brought with them abundant moisture that will make the pollen thrive, near-term.

"We will see a quick and rapid rise that will be quite vigorous in the first and second week in April," he said. "The moisture that is being deposited, both snow and rain, will actually further nurture the trees and future grass and weed pollinating seasons, so that there will be a higher pollen count for those downstream."

He predicts a "quite normal" allergy season this year, once we get past that early pollen spike.

Joe Cutter is the afternoon news anchor on New Jersey 101.5.