Pollen levels are high across the Pine Belt

PINE BELT, Miss. (WDAM) - Pollen has been extremely high over the past few days in the Pine Belt.

While no stranger to south Mississippi, one has to ask, is the pollen count typically this high at the very beginning of March?

Or put another way: Is it normal for many to feel this lousy this early in the calendar year?

“You may be seeing it more all right now,” said Ross Overstreet of the Lamar County Extension Office. “Typically, it’s more spaced out a little bit, so there may be a little more than usual.

“But for the most part, this is kind of what we’re going to see over the course of the spring.”

The warm weather was not the biggest factor for the early bloom, Overstreet said.

“Two things that kind of control flower production in plants and that’s photoperiod, which is the length of the day, as well as the number of chill hours that we get, which is the number of times below 45 degrees,” Overstreet says.

While it is very common to have a pollen allergy, figuring out which plant is causing what pollen can be tricky.

“What we’re seeing right now are most of our pines and that’s what the majority of people see when you walk out in the morning, you see the yellow film on your pond or your car or whatever it might be, that’s not the ones that’s really affecting your sinuses and allergies,” Overstreet said. “It’s the smaller oak species, grass species, our smaller pollens, that you’re not really seeing.”

More than 60 million people in the United States have yearly pollen-related allergy symptoms. If you do not get sick, someone you love more than likely does.

“It doesn’t really affect me as much as it does my kids, I’ve noticed as they’ve gotten older, it really affects them this time of year,” said Taylor Miller, a barista at STEAM Craft Coffee & Cafe in Purvis. “They get really stuffy and baggy eyes, bags under their eyes, and I have to give them medicine.

“So. it really affects them more than it does me. But it has been bad this time of year”

And even if someone is not experiencing a runny nose or watery eyes, the pollen still can affect daily life.

“I’ll take my car through the car wash and as soon as I come out like 5 minutes later. it’s already covered in pollen, so I don’t want to waste my time doing that,” Miller said.

The good news: Experts say since so much pollen has been released this early, the season will not last as long as it typically does.

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