2005-2006 Mountain Cedar Forecasts
Aerobiology Laboratory
The University of Tulsa
Thank you for your interest in the Mountain Cedar Pollen Forecasting. The Forecasts for Feb 3 to 5 were the last mountain cedar forecasts for the season. Although mountain cedar trees continued to produce pollen in early February, the spring tree pollen season has also started in Texas and Oklahoma. Eastern red cedar and elm have already started to pollinate along with other trees.
It is important to remember that mountain cedar pollen and eastern red cedar are closely related species. These have been reported to cross react. As a result patients allergic to mountain cedar may continue experience symptoms for several weeks. However, eastern red cedar pollen is not considered as potent an allergen, so symptoms may be not as severe.
Check our Spring pollen pages for information on other pollen types. Although this was set up for eastern Oklahoma, most of the trees occur through the south central United States.
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Forecasts for Dec 22 to Dec 31
LONG DISTANCE TRANSPORT
Pollen from mountain cedar populations in southern Oklahoma and Texas is capable of traveling long distances over short periods of time along prevailing winds. Pollen from populations in the Edwards Plateau can be carried to Dallas, Tulsa, or even further north. Research in our lab has focused on identifying the meteorological conditions that are associated with long distance transport. Generally, pollen is transported on days that are warm and sunny with southerly winds. Our forecasts have been developed to provide an alert for patients sensitive to mountain cedar pollen. We will be offering forecasts at least three days a week during December and January. Forecasts are developed using the HY-SPLIT trajectory model, which comes from NOAA's Air Resources Laboratory (ARL) in Silver Spring, Maryland. On days when pollen is forecast for a particular area, sensitive individuals may wish to limit outdoor activities or take other measures suggested by their physician.
Questions: Aerobiology Lab e-mail: pollen@utulsa.edu
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