Halifax Experimental Pollen and Spore Count Forecast Service
The pollen season is over. Updated pollen forecasts and counts will recommence May 2007.
Experimental pollen and spores forecast for Halifax and vicinity
Forecast for:
The main pollen types to be expected are:
Type:
4pm to 10pm
10pm to 4am
4am to 10am
10am to 4pm
Tree:
None
None
None
None
Weed:
None
None
None
None
Grass:
None
None
None
None
Spore*:
None
None
None
None
Forecast for: September 15-16th, 2006
The main pollen types to be expected are: Spores
Type:
4pm to 10pm
10pm to 4am
4am to 10am
10am to
4pm
Tree:
None
None
None
None
Weed:
None
None
None
None
Grass:
None
None
None
None
Spore*:
Low
Low
Low
Low
How to interpret the forecast chart: Each category is a prediction of the pollen levels that will occur in and around Halifax in the next twenty-four hours. There are four categories: LOW, MODERATE, HIGH, and VERY HIGH. Categories are based on the threshold values gives below. Each prediction is made using weather forecasts from Meteorological Service of Canada Atlantic.
Expected pollen and spore concentrations in the suburbs may be twice as high as those in Halifax, and in rural areas four times as high as in Halifax.
*Although a prediction of spore levels is offered here, it should be added that spore levels are difficult to predict on an hourly basis.
Pollen and Spore Count for Halifax, Nova Scotia
Observed on: Friday, September 15th, 2006(in pollen or spore count/m3)
Type:
4pm to 10pm
10pm to 4am
4am to 10am
10am to 4pm
Spores:
468
4212
4953
988
(Concentration in grains/m3)
Tree
Weed
Grass
Spore
Absent
0
0
0
0
Low
>0-14
>0-9
> 0-4
>1 - 6499
Moderate
15 - 89
10 - 49
5 - 19
6500 - 12999
High
90 - 1499
50 - 499
20 - 199
13000 - 49999
Very High
> 1500
> 500
> 200
> 50000
These thresholds are those used by the National Allergy Bureau of the United States.
They are based on statistical percentiles and do not necessarily reflect the possible severity of health effects.
They are however an indication of health effects.
Absent - No symptoms.
Low - Extremely sensitive individuals will experience symptoms.
Moderate - Some sensitive individuals will experience symptoms.
High - Most sensitive individuals will experience symptoms.
Very High - Almost all sensitive individuals will experience symptoms, severity of symptoms may increase.
* Standards from the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology / National Allergy Bureau
For background information about airborne pollen and spores, please click here.
An update: Two additional traps, purchased by Environment Canada, are now in place to
measure pollen and spore signals in Nova Scotia. The first is installed at a private
home in Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia (about half-an-hour outside Halifax), while the second
is on a farm at Noel Shore in central Nova Scotia. We will use the data we collect
from these monitoring stations to develop a city: suburbs: countryside pollen
and spore ratio.
Inquiries about the pollen and spore count or forecast can be directed to
(902) 420-5482 (Adree DeLazzer, Brent LaPierre and Elisabeth Levac) or 420-5493 (Dr. David Richardson). Any questions on the medical implications
should be directed to your physician. For tips on surviving the pollen
season, contact the Lung Association of Nova Scotia at (902) 443-8141 or toll-free in Nova Scotia
at 1-888-566-LUNG. Please e-mail the following address with any questions about how we count pollen and spores and how
we make predictions: pollen@smu.ca
To visit the model for our service, the Dublin Pollen Count and Irish Pollen Forecast, issued by the Trinity College Dublin School of Botany, please click here.
The count and forecast will be updated Monday to Friday at 8:00 p.m. A shorter version is available by telephone at (902) 426-9090, select 6.
THE POLLEN COUNT AND FORECAST SERVICE is located at Saint Mary's University, Halifax Nova Scotia. The service is supported by Environment Canada, a Science Horizons Youth Internship
from Environment Canada, and a Senate Research Committee Grant from Saint Mary's University and it is sponsored by the Lung Association of Nova Scotia. Dr. David Richardson, Dean of Science at Saint Mary's and Dr. Elisabeth Levac, are the supervisors. Adree DeLazzer and Brent LaPierre are the research workers. David Waugh is the Environment Canada liaison.