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Hay fever, go away
I know I'm not the only one whose nasal passages have been attacked by tree pollen lately. Despite the recent rain offering some relief, now is the time when seasonal allergies are historically the worst.
Seasonal allergic rhinitis, commonly known as hay fever, is an allergic reaction to pollen from trees, grasses and weeds. People with hay fever typically experience sneezing, itchy, watery eyes, nasal congestion and runny nose.
Pollen counts tend to spike when it gets warmer because plants begin to bloom. So when spring comes around, people's allergies get worse.
However, for the past few years, spring has been coming earlier in Houston and much of Texas, data shows. I spoke with Dr. Evan Li from Baylor College of Medicine, who told me he has started seeing patients for the past couple of years with hay fever in late February.
Although hay fever typically goes away once pollen counts go down, Li told me the threat of allergies in Houston never really goes away.
Check out my story to learn more about hay fever and what is recommended to relieve symptoms.
 | Ryan Nickerson, Weather Reporter |
Justin's Five Day Fit Check
Photo by: Photo by: Ken Ellis
Early this week you should expect chilly morning temperatures to start in the upper 40s and lower 50s. However, by the afternoon, highs through midweek top out near 70 degrees. Rain chances return late on Wednesday night, but sunny and seasonably warm weather returns in time for Friday.
In case you missed it, March 14 was Dress for STEM Day, a movement to promote diversity and inclusion in science, technology, engineering and math. If you tuned in to your favorite local weather newscaster last Thursday morning, you may have noticed them wearing purple.
To illustrate the issue, Dress for STEM organizers pointed out that:
- Women earn more than 50% of bachelor's degrees in all fields, but only 24% in engineering and physics and 21% in computer science.
- Men outpace women in onscreen STEM career roles 7 to 1
- Only 29% of women worked in science or engineering, up by only 3 percentage points from 2003.
- More than 32% of women switch out of STEM degree programs in college.
- Female engineers earn 10% less than male engineers.
Today in weather history
On March 18, 1992, a line of violent thunderstorms moved quickly across Southeast Texas, dropping golf ball-size hail on Houston and spawning at least one tornado in Anahuac.
The winds blew a 30-foot section of roofing off the 46-story One Houston Center building downtown and pulled off a church's awning in Anahuac while around 100 people were inside it. No injuries were reported.
Numerous storms brought hail to the Houston Rodeo late last week, but how does large hail form in the first place? Here's what you need to know.
Something to see
Photo by: Staff
The image is of Houston's daily temperatures so far this year. The chart shows that 2024 is already warmer than normal in Houston with last month turning out to be the city's eighth-warmest February on record. So far, Houston's average temperature in 2024 is 58.5 degrees, which is about 1.5 degrees above normal for the year.
March 19 is the spring equinox, the traditional start to spring. But it's been spring in Houston and parts of Texas for weeks.
According to data from the USA National Phenology Network, flowers began to bloom around Valentine's Day in Harris County. Comparing that to when blooms historically begin in Harris County, that's an early start.
Check out the data on when spring usually begins in Houston.
 | Ask a Meteorologist |
For Dress for STEM Day, I interviewed Ginger Zee, chief meteorologist and chief climate correspondent for ABC News. Zee said it took women a long time to be included in STEM careers and meteorology.
Q: Why do you think the Dress for STEM Day movement struck such a chord with people?
Zee: STEM gives us something that we didn't have back in the day... STEM is an acronym that allows you to know this is a supported group... For women, when I talk about representation, Helen Hunt's character (in the film "Twister") wasn't based on a real person. I don't know if there was someone like her and I don't think there was.
Q: Why has it taken so long to move the needle for women in STEM?
Zee: It took us a long time for us to even be able to be here, let alone be a scientist. I think each part of this is another hump for society to get over.
Q: You are an accomplished author on top of your many other roles with ABC News. Tell me how your young adult series, "Chasing Helicity," came about and what it represents.
Zee: You can't just have real people as role models. You have to have characters and people that can connect to different ages because someone who's 10 isn't necessarily going to see me and say, "Yeah, that's what I want to do." Giving that option is why I thought Helicity would be a great character to help me tell my story.
Weather wonk trivia
How much rain fell during Houston's wettest March on record?
A) 9.85 inches
B) 6.28 inches
C) 10.66 inches
D) 5.08 inches
Shoutout to Janice Holley for being the first to correctly answer last week's Weather Wonk trivia question! The answer to last week's question was B) The Houston Health Department measures tree pollen from January to April.
Meet the Team
Photo by: Susan Barber
The 713 Weather Radar newsletter is fueled by reporting from meteorologist Justin Ballard and reporter Ryan Nickerson. Texas Weather Science Editor Roberto Villalpando edits this newsletter.
You can reach out to any of them by emailing them directly at firstname.lastname@houstonchronicle.com or by replying to this email.
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