GREENSBORO, N.C. — Springtime is in full swing now with several warm days already in the Triad and more to come, which really sets the blooming season into motion. Although many love the warmer days, if your allergies are acting up, there's a good reason for that. Pollen is thriving right now!
Our News 2 Weather Team keeps track of the pollen report each day for you.
It's the peak of tree pollen season right now, running pretty much right on schedule.
According to our friends at the Forsyth County Environmental Assistance and Protection office, pine, oak, and birch tree pollen concentrations are reaching into the "very high" range, with oak being the main culprit right now.
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Pollen levels can fluctuate with the weather, meaning that cooler and rainy days can help reduce the amount of pollen, but at this point in the season, tree pollen is peaking so even the weather doesn't offer much relief for allergy sufferers. Later this week there will be some rain chances for the Piedmont which could drop pollen levels back slightly to the "high" level, but a couple dry and warm days forecast to follow will send the pollen count right back up.
Low amounts of grass and weed pollen are also starting to be detected across the area.
Tree pollen levels are the first to get going and reach their peak in mid-April as spring is young, but now grass and weed pollen doesn't start to become a problem until late April and May, which isn't far away. Some folks can deal with allergy issues all summer long and even well into the fall. Weed pollen levels don't start to really ramp down until we're heading into October.
Last year at this time spring blooms were way ahead of schedule by over 20+ days due to the warm winter of 2019-2020 that we had, causing allergy season to get a jump start and also putting crops at great risk because of the possibility of frost. This time around, we had a cooler winter and spring blooms have started pretty much on time, which means things are blooming close to schedule right now.
It's a good idea to pay attention to the pollen forecast each day.
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