Dry eye relief in Sacramento, California

Dry eye relief in Sacramento is mostly a summer project. July afternoons average 29 percent humidity, the city sees about 76 days a year at 90°F or hotter, and air conditioning runs for months. Keep vents and fans off your face, wear sunglasses outdoors, blink fully at screens and use a lubricating drop as its label directs. Pain or changes in vision need an eye doctor.

Sacramento’s climate in NOAA’s figures

NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 normals for Sacramento Executive Airport, in the south of the city near the Pocket and Land Park, show a classic Central Valley pattern: rain in winter and almost none in summer.

• About 18.14 inches of rain in a normal year, on roughly 58 days.
• January is the wettest month at 3.66 inches, with February and December close behind.
• July normally records no measurable rain at all, and August and September get less than a tenth of an inch between them.
• July’s normal high is 92.6°F, with 75.6 days a year reaching 90°F or more.
• December runs from 56.0°F down to 38.5°F, and about 15 nights a year reach freezing.

Why July afternoons feel so dry

NOAA’s humidity table for Sacramento has some of the steepest daily swings of any big California city. Summer mornings start around 71 percent, then afternoons fall to 32 percent in June, 29 in July, 30 in August and 31 in September. The annual afternoon average is 45 percent.

Air that dry, often with sun and a breeze off the Delta, pulls moisture from the eye’s surface quickly. Rafting the American River, riding the Jedediah Smith trail, a Saturday at a youth baseball tournament or working a farmers market stall in August all put your eyes in it for hours. Sunglasses that wrap around the sides, regular shade breaks and drinking enough water help on those days.

Air conditioning from May to October

With highs in the 80s by May and above 90 through much of July and August, the AC rarely gets a rest. Office buildings around the Capitol, state agency cubicles, cars on I-80 and Highway 50, and bedroom units at night add more dried, moving air on top of the dry air outside.

• Aim car vents at your chest or feet, not your face.
• Move a desk away from a ceiling diffuser if you can, or ask for it to be redirected.
• Keep bedroom fans off the pillow.
• Look up from screens every so often and blink slowly a few times, since focus slows blinking.

Our guide to dry eyes in a hot, dry workplace has more on setting up a space you spend hours in.

Tule fog winters and the heater

Winter is the opposite. The National Weather Service glossary defines tule fog as radiation fog in the Central Valley that forms at night and in the morning during late fall and winter, after the first significant rain. NOAA’s table shows January and December mornings near 87 percent humidity and afternoons around 69. Outdoors, eyes rarely feel dry in fog.

Indoors is a different story. Forced-air heat warms air without adding water, so a house closed up against cold fog can still feel dry by evening. A humidifier in the bedroom and keeping heat registers from blowing at the couch or desk help. Fog also makes driving tiring: you stare hard at the road, blink less, and finish a foggy commute with tired, scratchy eyes.

What the Quell label says

The Uses line on the Drug Facts panel reads: For use as a protectant against further irritation or to relieve dryness of the eye. Quell is designed to reinforce the tear film’s oil layer to help reduce moisture loss, which is the core problem in Sacramento’s summer air. The directions read: Apply 1 drop 3 times per day in each eye. And before each drop: Do not touch tip of bottle to any surface to avoid contamination.

Summer heat is a storage problem too. The label says: Store between 15° to 30°C (59° to 86°F). A car in a Sacramento parking lot in July gets far hotter than that, so keep the bottle in a bag that comes inside with you. The label’s “Do not use” line reads: If this product changes color. You can read the full panel on the Drug Facts page.

Ordering to Sacramento

Quell ships within the US from Brentwood, Tennessee, and checkout works without an account. Shipping is $10.00, and 3 or more bottles ship free. We don’t promise delivery dates, so ordering before the first heat wave in June makes more sense than waiting for July. See the Sacramento page and the California page for more.

When dryness isn’t the whole story

A drop is for everyday dryness and irritation. If your eyes hurt, your vision changes, or the discomfort keeps returning, working out the cause belongs to an eye doctor. The label’s stop line: Stop use and ask a doctor if you feel eye pain or changes in your vision, if irritation or redness continues, or if the condition worsens or persists for 72 hours.

If you’re undecided, the dry eye self-check asks a few questions and points to next steps; it’s not a diagnosis. Our list of eye symptoms that need a doctor covers the signs that need prompt attention.