Sorry, Charlotte. This pollen isn't going away anytime soon

Zoom in: Pollen season usually begins to wind down in the Carolinas in early May, notes WBTV meteorologist Elissia Wilson.

• The region will experience "warm and breezy conditions" over the next several days, and any rainfall likely won't be enough to improve dry conditions or clear out the layers of pollen spread across the Carolinas, Wilson added.
• "Since trees and plants like warm weather, the pollen will likely increase in the coming days," she told Axios.

Between the lines: Considering its trees, pollution, and longer warm seasons, Charlotte is like a "perfect storm" when it comes to factors aggravating allergies, Bailee Gilchrist, an immunologist with Carolina Asthma and Allergy Center, recently told WBTV.

• "Pets can also be a source of allergens during pollen season. Even if someone is not allergic to their pets, animals can track pollen inside as well," Gilchrist said.

The intrigue: Between 1970 and 2025, nearly 90% of cities analyzed by Climate Central saw longer growing seasons. That's the time between the last and first freeze, used here to represent allergy season.

• Charlotte, however, saw its pollen season shrink by three days over that 55-year period.