Laura C. Harrington is a professor of entomology and an expert on mosquito-borne diseases. She notes that deep winter freezes mean fewer sickness-spreading summer pests.
Harrington says:
“Cold weather, especially extreme cold temperatures, limit survival of mosquitoes and other arthropod disease vectors such as ticks, helping to regulate their population sizes in the spring.
“Dry conditions paired with cold temperatures have an even greater impact on tick survival as species such as the deer tick are highly sensitive to humidity and must find humid locations to survive the winter months in hibernation.”
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