A warm spell in the Southeast that has brought people out in shorts and T-shirts in January has also given rise to a fair-weather phenomenon: allergy attacks... "We're selling a lot more allergy than cold medicine," said Richard Miller, owner of Miller's Rexall Drugs in Atlanta. He said he has not seen such a warm spell - and such allergy-medicine sales in the middle of the winter - "in years and years."
While much of the rest of the nation is shivering amid the usual January ice and snow, the Southeast has been basking under a high-pressure system since just after Christmas that has kept cold fronts at bay and sent the mercury climbing as high as the mid-70s. Charlotte, N.C., has either hit or approached daily records in the past several days, with temperatures in the 70s. Memphis, Tenn., reached nearly 63 degrees, well above the usual readings in the 40s. Jackson, Miss., and Birmingham, Ala., have been running about 20 degrees above normal. It is not pollen that is causing the misery, but mold, said Dr. Keith Phillips, an associate professor with Emory University's division of allergy and immunology. Mold thrives in warmer weather and has a "wonderful" place to grow on vegetation that has died in the winter, he said. Phillips said people with mold allergies should not rake leaves or do other lawn work and gardening that could disturb the mold and release spores into the air.
Hold out a little longer -- winter will surely return soon. |