Mountain cedar is a big topic of conversation right now in San Antonio. A lot of people are suffering from cedar fever, which leads to sneezing, a nose that won’t stop running and eyes that hurt to open.

Last week, San Antonio saw a cedar count that peaked at more than 32,000. (Just to clarify, the cedar count is considered “Heavy” when it hits 500.) Some meteorologists here said that 32,000 count was one of the two or three highest they’ve ever seen.

We mention that cedar count quite a bit on this blog and Facebook or Twitter. But you may not know how doctors come up with that number. Like an airplane’s sensitive data, the information about a day’s mountain cedar count is contained in a little, black box.

It’s days like this where indoor air quality is all the more important. Besides regularly changing your air filter (a theme we like to preach here), I’ve also found it helps my allergies a bit to wash my car regularly. If you notice a yellow tint on the car, that’s cedar pollen.

Cedar season usually lasts through February, so we have about six more weeks. Buckle up.