What is the mosquito forecast for the Fourth of July 2021?
The Fourth of July holiday weekend is looming with plans for picnics, fireworks, parties and pool time but revelers may have some uninvited and unwelcome guests. Thermacell Repellents, a Massachusetts company that designs, manufactures, and markets area mosquito repellent and insect control solutions, created a mosquito pressure index. The company said it worked with meteorologists, entomologists and forecasting data from AccuWeather, to create the index that predicts mosquito activity at a local level. The index ranks expected intensity of mosquito pressure on a 1-to-10 scale with 1 indicating a likelihood of moderate mosquito pressure and 10 predicting a likelihood of extremely high pressure, the company said. The holiday weekend looks good for mosquito activity - and bites - in the Northeast region including Pennsylvania. Warm weather and increased precipitation are the two top drivers of mosquito activity, said John Hainze, vice president, Science and Research at Thermacell Repellents. Above normal temperatures and precipitation over the last several days are leading to predictions of a heavier surge in mosquitoes in some areas for the holiday weekend.  Thermacell is predicting very high to extreme levels of mosquito activities for these 10 metropolitan areas for the holiday weekend:  1. Houston, Texas - Level 10: Weather is favorable for an extreme level of mosquito activity. 2. Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas - Level 10: Weather is favorable for an extreme level of mosquito activity. 3. Miami, Florida - Level 10: Weather is favorable for an extreme level of mosquito activity. 4. Charlotte, North Carolina - Level 10: Weather is favorable for an extreme level of mosquito activity. 5. Washington, D.C - Level 9: Weather is favorable for an extreme level of mosquito activity. 6. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Level 9: Weather is favorable for a very high level of mosquito activity. 6. Nashville, Tennessee - Level 9: Weather is favorable for a very high level of mosquito activity. 7. Atlanta, Georgia - Level 9: Weather is favorable for a very high level of mosquito activity. 8. St. Louis, Missouri - Level 9: Weather is favorable for a very high level of mosquito activity. 9. Charleston, South Carolina - Level 9: Weather is favorable for a very high level of mosquito activity. 10. Cincinnati, Ohio - Level 9: Weather is favorable for a very high level of mosquito activity. Thermacell Repellents says two factors are critical when forecasting mosquito activity -precipitation and temperature. Rainfall and flooding stimulate the development of the eggs of many mosquito species, while warmer temperatures speed up the time it takes to become adults. When recent rainfall creates standing water for eggs to hatch, an individual female mosquito can lay hundreds of eggs depending on the species and environmental factors.  Biting female adult mosquitos emerge within a week to 10 days after eggs begin to develop. Their first priority is a blood meal. READ MORE