Allergy season comes early for Colorado Springs
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As the saying goes, April showers bring May flowers. But not this year.
- Instead, an unseasonably warm, dry February is bringing March flowers.
Why it matters: Allergy season is arriving earlier and lasting longer in Colorado Springs — meaning more weeks of sneezing, congestion and doctors visits for residents.
Driving the news: This year's unseasonably warm winter prompted trees, shrubs and flowers in the Springs to start blooming in late February.
- That's nothing to sneeze at: About 25% of adults have seasonal allergies.
What they're saying: "Most of the time, I'm telling patients around the 1st of March is when to start medical therapy for springtime allergens," Levi Keller, an assistant professor in allergy and clinical immunology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, recently told KUNC.
- "But this year, it was probably around Valentine's Day."
The big picture: The days between the last and first frost in the Pikes Peak region have increased by an average of eight days in recent years, trending longer since 1970, a new report from Climate Central shows.
Threat level: Nationwide pollen production stands to dramatically increase alongside high CO2 pollution, per a 2022 study highlighted in the report.
- For our area, tree pollen is the current culprit, according to Accuweather.com.