An eerie yellowish haze of pollen blanketed Greater Boston and beyond Monday, as recent elevated levels of the powdery substance have coated everything from parked cars to patios over the past week, much to the misery of countless allergy sufferers out there.
The pollen was so thick that Ed Hughes, a photojournalist with NBC 10 in Boston, captured some photos of the suspended layer of pollen hovering over the city skyline in the morning. “...it’s pollen!!! Still holding its grip of the Boston area and making the lives of allergy sufferers miserable!!!” Hughes wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter. Many reported seeing a faint pollen haze into the late afternoon.
It even “engulfed” the Norton offices of the National Weather Service, according to meteorologists on site. “Got pollen? A thick haze of yellow pollen has engulfed us at the office!” the Weather Service posted, along with a photo of the haze, on X.
Our recent stretch of beautiful sunny weather has also meant higher concentrations of the fine yellowish powder, since dry, warm air helps accelerate pollen counts and movement, according to Boston Globe meteorologist Ken Mahan. Pollen is transported from plant to plant by the wind, birds, insects, and other animals.
What caused the thick cloud of pollen? This particular “pollen haze” was due to what is known as “a classic temperature inversion,” according to Mahan.
“This happens when the air actually warms up as you go higher in the atmosphere before cooling again,” Mahan said. “This will make any surface air that heated up during the day and rose get stuck and suspended aloft. Pair that with a high pollen count and you have a pollen cloud!”
The cloak of pollen was eerily reminiscent of the haze of wildfire smoke that blanketed the area last summer.
But don’t worry, the pollen levels are expected to ease up starting Tuesday.
Mahan said Tuesday should be better with “a backdoor cold front moving in, but not drastically better ... allergen levels are medium to high and (Tuesday’s) pollen forecast should stay elevated but improved from (Monday).”
Pollen-producing plants have been delivering a fairly constant level of pollen into the air, and Wednesday should see a return to “medium-to-high” levels like Monday, with tree pollens topping the list of most aggravating allergens.
Full relief won’t come until Thursday, when rain is expected across New England. That will be great news for those with allergies. Pollen is the most common cause of allergies, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine, and the top allergens right now in the Boston area are likely grasses and mulberry, oak, and other trees, according to pollen forecasts.
Despite the high pollen levels, air quality overall in the Boston area has been rated “good” over the past several days, according to AirNow, which monitors air quality across the country. It’s a partnership of the US Environmental Protection Agency, NOAA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other agencies.
Shannon Larson of the Globe staff contributed to this story.
Marianne Mizera can be reached at marianne.mizera@globe.com. Follow her @MareMizera.