The Philly forecast is near perfect for the rest of the week — if you don’t have pollen allergies

A splendid spell of rain-free days with dry air and warm but comfortable temperatures continues throughout the region — and tens of thousands of pollen sufferers may well have reason to complain.

This is the period of the year when both the trees and grasses are emitting their reproductive pollen simultaneously, setting off attacks of sneezing, eye irritation, fatigue, and a singular mental fogginess that only an allergy-sufferer could fully appreciate.

The grasses are in ascendancy, and while the tree season probably has peaked, they aren’t quite done with this annual exercise. On average, as a combination, the trees and grasses tend to reach their highest levels during the second week in May, said Neeta Ogden, an allergist affiliated with the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.

» READ MORE: The pollen season got off to a jump-start

“We are at the crossroads,” said Marc Goldstein, an allergist with Center City’s Asthma Center, whose daily counts for both trees and grasses were in the “high” category Thursday morning.

“Those with both tree and grass pollen allergy,” he said, can experience “a double whammy of pollen. Pollen will continue to be in abundance from now to at least Saturday.”

Ogden, who practices in northern New Jersey, said pollen sufferers can thank the snow-less, cold-challenged winter for springtime miseries.

The absent winter in much of the Northeast, she said, “led to plants growing robustly and releasing pollen earlier, meaning earlier, longer seasons and higher pollen count levels leading to more intense symptoms.”

» READ MORE: Tree pollen just kept flying in April

And those generous rains two weekends ago — Philly had a month’s worth in three days — evidently gave a growth jolt to the grasses, still a few weeks away from their annual peaks.

”I expect grass pollen levels rising and higher counts and lasting well into June,” she said.

Goldstein said the pollen harvests of recent years are related to the world’s warmer, moister climate.

Teasing out the precise effects of climate change on the daily counts, however, gets messy since pollen flight has so much to do with day-to-day weather variables, he said.

The average pollen grain couldn’t ask for much better flight conditions than those expected the next four days.

The air will be relatively dry, said Matt Brudy, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Mount Holly. High moisture levels in the atmosphere discourage flight, and rain can outright deaden it.

Pollen prefers warmth, and highs Wednesday are forecast to be in the 70s, with 80 degrees or better Thursday through Saturday.

Grass- and tree-pollen symptoms are similar, said Ogden, but with some subtle differences.

Both are boons to tissue sales and can result in “intensely itchy eyes,” said Ogden. Trees also can cause “oral allergy symptoms,” she said, with itchiness around the mouth.

Ogden’s recommendations include checking the daily counts. They are available on the Center City’s Asthma Center’s site. The counts from its automated system are available every day between 6 and 7 a.m. Allergist Donald Dvorin, who is the region’s only official National Allergy Bureau counter, posts his later in the day Tuesday through Friday. They are 24-hour samples taken in Mount Laurel, where his practice is located.

» READ MORE: Pollen affects millions, but who's counting? Not many, these days

Ogden also suggests wearing a mask when cleaning off pollen from surfaces; taking a shower before bed; maybe buying an air purifier; keeping windows closed; and if the dog or cat has been playing outside, kicking said pet out of bed.