Thunderstorm Asthma

Taylor, Philip E.; Jonsson, Haflidi

Thunderstorm Asthma

dc.contributor.author	Taylor, Philip E.
dc.contributor.author	Jonsson, Haflidi
dc.contributor.department	Meteorology
dc.date.accessioned	2015-08-20T22:29:49Z
dc.date.available	2015-08-20T22:29:49Z
dc.date.issued	2004
dc.description.abstract	Thunderstorms have often been linked to epidemics of asthma, especially during the grass flowering season; however, the precise mechanisms explaining this phenomenon are unknown. Evidence of high respirable allergen loadings in the air associated with specific meteorologic events combined with an analysis of pollen physiology suggests that rupture of airborne pollen can occur. Strong downdrafts and dry, cold outflows distinguish thunderstorm rain from frontal rain. The weather system of a mature thunderstorm likely entrains grass pollen into the cloud base, where pollen rupture would be enhanced, then transports the respirablesized fragments of pollen debris to ground level where outflows distribute them ahead of the rain. The conditions occurring at the onset of a thunderstorm might expose susceptible people to a rapid increase in concentrations of pollen allergens in the air that can readily deposit in the lower airways and initiate asthmatic reactions.	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/10945/46133
dc.rights	This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.	en_US
dc.title	Thunderstorm Asthma	en_US
dc.type	Article	en_US
dspace.entity.type	Publication