If you’ve spent much of this summer rubbing your eyes and wondering why your allergies seem to have gone completely off the rails, you’re not imagining it.
This has been a rough allergy year across Greater Boston and much of New England, and it doesn’t look like we’re quite done with those pesky allergies just yet. The late-summer-to-fall allergies have now kicked into high gear, and the surge in weed pollen is the main offender — think ragweed and plants like sagebrush.
How did we get here? We didn’t really start with a bang. Spring actually got off to a cooler start, which delayed the initial release of tree pollen. Then after an early visit to 90-degree weather in mid-May, the trees essentially hit the accelerator.
We didn’t experience a gradual pollen release, but an explosion of pollen in a shorter window. This means we saw excessive tree pollen overlapping with the release of grass pollen.
Dr. Paul J. Maglione, an allergist-immunologist at Boston Medical Center, says the delayed start was widely noticeable.
“This spring’s pollen season seemed to have a slightly delayed onset due to cooler temperatures early in the season. However, by late May, it had become quite intense, possibly because the pollen was released over a shorter period,” said Maglione. “Many of our patients experienced more severe symptoms than usual.”
This lines up. Once temperatures jumped across New England, pollen counts climbed quickly, with oak, birch, and maple as the major contributors. “Tree pollen seemed to be particularly problematic this year,” said Maglione.
So, was this actually considered a bad year for allergy sufferers? I’d say yes — our weather has consistently produced warmer and muggier conditions, which keep pollen suspended and floating about. And that has remained the case as temperatures and humidity have remained elevated through the summer. This certainly has made this season feel considerably worse.
This autumn should continue the trend
As we head into autumn, don’t expect a drop in allergies as we move deeper into the ragweed season, the dominant irritant from late summer into fall.
We’re expected to see a bit of a warming trend across New England through September as the jet stream holds on to a northern track, allowing for warm air to build over our region more often.
In addition, we’ve had an overall very warm summer, actually a lock for the top 10 hottest summers for Boston, and the elevated temperatures will take more time to cool as the season changes, so we’ll naturally run warmer than normal as we begin September.
As these temperatures run above average, there’s a good chance we’ll again see allergies hang around longer than we would like.
“If trends from previous years continue, we can expect a longer fall pollen season, which could mean symptoms lasting later into the autumn for those sensitive to ragweed and other weed pollens,” said Maglione. One ragweed plant can produce up to 1 billion pollen grains, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.
Sure, rain can temporarily knock pollen out of the air, but we’ve seen a very dry August across the region, so that doesn’t help things much. The expected warm, mostly dry — and breezy — weather will continue to keep the pollen abundant over the next few weeks.
Climate change is making the allergy season longer
Boston’s growing season is getting longer as the climate continues to warm, which means that allergies stick around longer. In short, warmer temperatures allow plants to grow, flower, and produce pollen for longer periods.
Boston has seen allergies last over two weeks longer than they did in 1970, according to data from Climate Central.
And it’s not just Boston; nearly all of New England has seen the allergy season expand at both ends.
Warmer springs can get some plants producing pollen earlier, while warmer autumns allow plants such as ragweed, which starts flourishing during the summer, to keep producing pollen until the first frost.
So, unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that the allergy “season” is ready to call it quits just yet. We’ll have to wait a couple of months for that.
Ken Mahan can be reached at ken.mahan@globe.com. Follow him on Instagram @kenmahantheweatherman.