Saturday marked the first day of fall and, although it's not quite sweater-weather season in Texas, seasonal allergies have already hit Texans hard.
For example, the ragweed count is high in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and San Antonio is notorious for its allergens.
It's so bad here that the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of American ranks the Alamo City as the fourth most challenging city in the U.S. for fall allergy sufferers and the fifth worst for spring allergies.
Allergists and immunologists said they've already seen an increase in patients coming in with itchy ears, watery eyes and runny noses.
Stone Oak Allergy reports cedar pollen season runs from December through mid-February. Much of the pollen is blown by passing cold fronts into San Antonio from large cedar thickets dotting the Hill Country.
“In lots of other places across the U.S., you just have your fall and your spring tree allergies, but it’s that December through February timeframe that makes cedar fever unique,” said Alison Baylis, Texas A&M Forest Service regional urban ecologist.
Other trees, including Live Oak, release their pollen into the air in March and April around the end of "cedar fever" season.
After spring means the arrival of grass pollens -- frequent lawn mowing throws pollen and dust into the air.
Then comes fall with its mix of weed pollens, such as ragweed.
And then there's mold, which loves warm and muggy San Antonio and hangs in the air most of the year. Its peak seasons are summer and fall.
As far as the overall pollen outlook for this year, Baylis said it's hard to give a definite answer. While warmer weather can mean trees pollinate sooner, other factors impact pollen counts per season.
Drought can stress trees and make them less likely to produce as much pollen as a healthy tree, Baylis said.
“In times of drought, you can think of it that trees essentially can’t feed themselves,” she said. “One way that could impact pollen is that there would be less resources to put into pollen production.”
Even if a tree produces less pollen than usual, there are still other factors that could play into the intensity of allergy season.
Trees could produce less pollen one year, but windy conditions kicking up pollen in the air could make it seem no different from other seasons. By contrast, if trees produce more pollen but consistent rainy conditions keep pollen out of the air, the allergy season could be less intense.
“There’s just all these different variables that go into the equation and there’s really no way for me to say for sure which one is the real culprit,” Baylis said.
