NJ weather: Cold spring means fewer mosquitoes this summer, and here's why

A spring season that feels like winter is a real bummer in every way but one: Fewer mosquitoes when it actually does warm up.

Yes, if there is a bright side to the cool-and-cold, snow-and-rain, gray-and-bluster spring that New Jersey has experienced, it's that summer will be less irritating — dermatologically speaking.

And not only does its needlelike proboscis leave its victim with an itchy bump, but the mosquito is one of nature's most effective vectors for disease.

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West Nile Virus, encephalitis and Zika are just a few of the sometimes fatal maladies an infected mosquito can spread through its bite. See how to protect your family in the video above.

But this roller-coaster of temperature is not conducive to building up a swollen population of mosquitos in July and August, said Dina Fonseca, a molecular ecologist at Rutgers and mosquito expert.

"When it starts to warm up the eggs start to hatch," Fonseca told the Asbury Park Press. "Then you get larvae developing, but really cold weather after that will kill all the larvae off."

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You may have seen a few mosquitos buzzing around during those two days of sun and unseasonable warmth the Shore logged on April 13 and 14. The state's network of county-level mosquito control divisions certainly noticed.

"Mosquitoes have been reported in the county and the normal control measures are underway, including aerial application of larvicide over large areas of standing water," said Monmouth County Freeholder Pat Impreveduto. "Our inspectors are actively checking and treating areas known to produce mosquitoes."

The species of mosquitos most prevalent in New Jersey remain in the egg phase of their life cycle until moisture and warm weather trigger their development into larvae.

Five to 10 days later they emerge with wings, hungry for their first "blood meal," as scientists call it.

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Mosquito growth is dependent on two weather factors: precipitation and temperature.

With an unusually wet March — courtesy of 16 inches of slushy snow — and torrential rains last week, sufficient moisture is not in question. As for heat, that's a different story.

Consider the following charts from the Office of the New Jersey State Climatologist:

In both Monmouth and Ocean counties, temperatures have swung wildly during the first month of spring.

Five days featured highs of at least 70 degrees. That's the kind of energy that might tempt mosquito larvae to think it's party time and shed their eggs.

But in each instance, all of those warm days were soon followed by freezing temperatures at night — to the detriment of these burgeoning pests.

"Larvae are very susceptible to the cold," Fonseca said. "They are not hardy."

A cold spring doesn't mean we won't have any mosquitoes to contend with. Mosquitoes don't all hatch simultaneously and the survivors could certainly still flourish under the right conditions.

"The bad news is that they usually have multiple generations each summer so while they may start slow, there is plenty of time to catch up," Fonseca said.

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Russ Zimmer: 732-557-5748, razimmer@app.com, @russzimmer