Ben Hubbert



Are You Ready for Mountain Cedar?



Mountain Cedar Pollination - Photo Courtesy of Dr. William Howland

Mountain cedar season is just about here.

Cedar season usually starts around Christmas time and goes through February. Mountain cedar is starting to pop up in the allergy counts. Today’s cedar count is only at 30, which is low. You can bet that number will be going up, however. In January of this year, we had days higher than 26,000.

It’s still unclear if we’ll see a cedar season of that strength this year. Dr. Paul Ratner told News 4 WOAI that the drought wiped out a bunch of cedar trees in the Hill Country, so it’s hard to predict this year’s season.

If mountain cedar allergies hit you hard, now is the time for a reminder to regularly change your air filter. Depending on the severity of your allergy, you may want to do so every couple of weeks. Also, look for a filter with a higher MERV rating. It’s a scale from 1-16, and a higher MERV rating means the filter catches more particulates. Those filters with higher MERV ratings cost a bit more, but it could be worth it to help with your allergies.


Ben Hubbert