What the Wind Blew In

Nose feeling sneezy and itchy? Skin feeling dry and parched? No, it’s not just you. It’s the price we pay for living in Southern California.

The annual kicking up of the Santa Ana winds is playing havoc with allergy suffers across the Southland. Thursday’s particle counts aren’t necessarily higher than normal, allergists say, but are especially troublesome when combined with winds that dry out the nasal passages.

The winds carry weed and grass pollen, mold spores and dust, all of which aggravate allergies. They also cause itchy, red, watery eyes, flare-ups of eczema--and bad moods.

“You ask patients when they have trouble, and they say, ‘When the Santa Anas blow,’ ” said Orange allergist Stanley P. Galant, who is also director of pediatric allergy and immunology at UC Irvine. Galant said he sees about 30% more patients when the Santa Ana winds hit.

Allergy sufferers are not the only ones dreading the Santa Ana season.

At 12:30 p.m. Thursday, Scott Brown, an Orange County Fire Authority battalion chief, declared it a “red flag” day, causing officials to marshal equipment and place personnel on alert in case a fire breaks out in the midst of such heavy winds and dry conditions. If winds become severe, Brown said, he is prepared to dispatch equipment and patrols and even relocate a helicopter as part of an anxious fire watch.

The winds are just one of the unusual weather patterns that Orange County residents can expect over the next two days. Surf on beaches facing south to southwest may top six to eight feet, according to the National Weather Service.

Forecasters also predict that mild Santa Ana winds are likely to blow hardest in coastal areas--up to 40 miles per hour--and in some isolated spots up to 60 miles an hour through Saturday afternoon.

That’s when they are expected to die down, at least temporarily. Allergists, however, say the winds will rage on and off throughout the fall, drying noses, irritating eyes and worsening the effects of asthma.

Other areas in the United States suffer from similar wind patterns carrying hot desert air with spores and pollen. But the effect is well-documented in Southern California, weather experts say.

“They affect a larger, denser population, so more people complain about them,” said Dan Atkin, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Diego.

Allergist Mark Sugar, with offices in Fountain Valley and Mission Viejo, said the winds turn his patients into walking barometers. He’s already been flooded with calls from allergy sufferers. “They can begin to sense these winds are coming, sometimes even before they are here,” Sugar said.

Sugar, president of the Orange County Society of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, said allergy sufferers can help themselves by pretreating symptoms with nasal steroid sprays. But he warns consumers that some over-the-counter sprays can end up hurting rather than helping.

Costa Mesa allergist Joel E. Lewis estimated that 38% of the population suffers from some sort of allergy.

“The story is almost always the same. They come in and their eyes are irritated. [People] are not working as well as they should be,” said Lewis, who will speak at noon Oct. 20 at the Newport Beach Public Library about allergy’s effects on children.

Nicholas Sandercock, 18, of Huntington Beach, stopped in Lewis’ office Thursday for allergy treatments between classes at Golden West College.

“This isn’t the season you really like the most. In years past, it’s pretty bad. There’s wheezing; I got stuffed up,” Sandercock said. “You can’t do a lot of things you used to.”