High temperature marks weren't the only records falling in these last few days of winter, as Atlanta's pollen count Monday shattered the previous record by 35 percent.
Atlanta's count early Monday of 8,164 particles of pollen per cubic meter of air was more than a third higher than the previous record of 6,013, set on April 12, 1999, according to the Atlanta Allergy and Asthma Clinic, which tracks the misery level of the city's allergy sufferers.
The major pollens present Monday were oak, pine, mulberry, sycamore, sweet gum and birch.
"Remember, it's the pollens you don't see, not the green/yellow pine pollen that you do see that will cause symptoms" for most allergy sufferers, Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Karen Minton said. "Pine pollen is a larger pollen than the others, and as a rule, doesn't cause the problems that the other tiny pollens cause."
Atlanta's high temperature Sunday of 84 tied the record for the date, and another mark that has stood for 105 years is likely to fall on Tuesday.
Sunday's high, which tied a record set in 1982, was Atlanta's fourth straight high in the 80s, and Minton is forecasting afternoon readings around 84 on Monday's last full day of winter and 82 on Tuesday, when spring officially begins at 1:14 a.m.
Atlanta's record for the most consecutive days in March above 80 is five, set in 1907.
The average high for this time of the year is 65 degrees. The record high for Monday is 85, and the record for Tuesday is 86.
Minton's forecast calls for mostly sunny skies much of the week, with only a 10 percent chance of showers Monday and Tuesday, increasing slightly to 20 percent for the remainder of the work week.
Highs will cool slightly later in the week, topping out around 80 degrees on Wednesday and in the upper 70s Thursday and Friday, Minton said. Overnight lows this week will be a degree or two on either side of 60 degrees.
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