This year, pollen began emerging in January, when it’s practically unheard of, hit an early peak at the beginning of March, and has since been strangely suppressed due to cool, rainy weather.

But pollen sufferers aren’t out of the woods. Although peak pollen is delayed, it’s unlikely denied. Keep the antihistamines handy.

Once we string together warm, sunny days, we may endure a pollen explosion, making for a miserable first half of May.

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Susan Kosisky, chief of the U.S. Army Centralized Allergen Extract Lab in Silver Spring, confirmed it has been an “unusual” pollen season.

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The tree pollen season got off to a roaring start with a record-setting spike in January. Normally tree pollen doesn’t start to appear until February. But a string of days in the middle of the month, with temperatures near 70 degrees, induced an unprecedented spurt.

“The [pollen] count for January 15 was high at 76 grains/cubic meter [of air], which was the highest daily count in January recorded for the years 1998-2020,” Kosisky wrote.

A very mild February, tied for the seventh warmest on record, kept tree pollen levels well above average. Several days saw counts soar into the “high” range.

Additional warmth into early March incited another record spike. The count soared to the “very high” level of 1,784.66 grains per cubic meter on March 2. “For the 1st week in March this was the highest count recorded looking over the data from 1998-2020,” Kosisky wrote in an email. The count hasn’t been higher since.

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In recent weeks, when tree pollen normally quickly ramps up, cool, rainy weather has held it in check. This same weather has also helped keep air pollution low. In her April 16 report, Kosisky noted tree pollen counts were just over 100 grains per cubic meter compared with an average of over 500.

The highest count since early March occurred on Wednesday, at 822.68 grains per cubic meter. Setting aside that sunny, breezy day, counts have hovered at below-normal levels for much of the middle and latter parts of April, the typical peak. “The cooler weather and rain from day to day the last two weeks have really helped to keep our numbers down this year,” Kosisky wrote.

But a burst of pollen, perhaps the season’s biggest, may arrive once the weather turns sunnier and warmer.

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“After a period of colder, harsher weather, the return of abundant sunshine, persistent breezes and temperatures hovering close to 70-80 degrees will induce a potpourri of pollen from numerous area tree species,” Kosisky wrote.

The forecast for the next seven to 10 days or so calls for more cooler and wetter-than-normal conditions before temperatures attempt to rebound into the 70s. “We may see a later peak week the 1st week in May as we did in 2018,” Kosisky wrote.

Once a greenish-yellow film begins coating car surfaces outdoors, it “is a great indicator of when our oaks and the much larger pine pollen begin to pollinate at peak levels,” Kosisky wrote. “The oak catkins are hanging from the trees now and are waiting for the warmth, sunshine and spring breezes to really get them going.”