A wet spring and more of the same into summer could mean a nasty mosquito season this year, mosquito control experts say.

"The potential is higher right now," said Bill Stanuszek, director of the Saginaw Mosquito Abatement Commission.

But, "The forecast is whatever Mother Nature gives us."

That mosquito season forecast doesn't look so good when the wet weather this spring and more wet days that could trend through summer are taken into account.

"The weather pattern right now leans toward southerly flow, which is a moist air and wet weather flow," MLive Chief Meteorologist Mark Torregrossa said. "This could last into at least the early part of summer.

"I would say the weather going forward would unfortunately favor good mosquito-growing conditions."

The ground is saturated now, the water tables are high, woodlots have standing water and so do some fields and low spots in yards -- ripe conditions for mosquitoes in mid-Michigan, Stanuszek said.

His publicly-funded agency found its first mosquito larvae March 12 this year, he said.

Those slow-growing early spring mosquito hatches can turn into adult mosquitoes by early May Stanuszek said. Adult mosquitoes should be out in full force by mid-May, he said.

What you may experience in your back yard will depend on where you live and how you take care of your property.

"With mosquitoes, it's location, location, location," Stanuszek said. If there's a flooded woodland out back, a soggy farm field or a ditch that won't drain, you may get those springtime mosquitoes dive-bombing your barbecue, he said.

If that happens, Saginaw Mosquito Abatement will respond to calls about nuisance mosquitoes, Stanuszek said. In fact, any mosquito-control agency depends on people calling in to determine the exact location of trouble spots, he said.

In the Great Lakes Bay Region, Saginaw, Bay and Midland counties all have public mosquito control agencies.

That's no coincidence -- the Saginaw River Valley is a wide, flat plain, a former swamp drained by hundreds of miles of ditches.

On the other hand, parts of Michigan with better drainage and sandy soils -- say, parts of West Michigan -- might have a smaller problem with mosquitoes. Stanuszek said.

So, terrain makes a big difference when it comes to hoardes of skeeters, or just the occasional biter dipping in for a blood meal.

But there's also your own yard to worry about -- flat or hilly.

That's where pots, discarded tires, plugged ditches, low spots in lawns, even clogged gutters can hold rainwater long enough to hatch mosquitoes, Stanuszek said. Those little reservoirs are where the summer mosquitoes come from -- the culex mosquitoes largely responsible for spreading disease such as West Nile Virus, he said.

Empty the pots and drain standing water to deprive the summer mosquitoes of places to breed, he said. All they need to go from egg to adult is a little water to linger for 7-10 days.

Bottom line, you can have an impact on the mosquitoes at home, rain or shine.

"Mosquito Control starts in your back yard," Stanuszek said.

As for the Zika Virus that has been in the news lately, Saginaw and Bay mosquito control leaders say it isn't expected in Michigan. The mosquitoes that carry the virus aren't found in Michigan. But they'll be on the lookout anyway, just in case, they say.