Charlotte allergy season could be one of worst in decades

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Allergy season in Charlotte could be one of the worst in decades.

WSOC-TV social media pages have been full of people complaining of their allergies.

They are coming in about a month before the real allergy season begins.

Meteorologist John Ahrens looked into why it could be so bad and said you have to look beyond the fact that it's warm.

It may be tough now, but this allergy season still hasn’t revealed how bad it will be, with some trees that have bloomed but others not yet.

“It’s been crazy, crazy,” Phyllis Pauling said. "I was out for two days because my allergies are so bad and it hasn’t cleared up yet."

"I think this is going to be one of the highest pollen seasons we have seen in a long time,” said Dr. Maeve O’Connor, with Allergy Asthma and Immunology Relief.

O'Connor said the calls to her office have not stopped, with people complaining of sneezing, watery eyes and itchy throats.

"It’s too soon. It's way too soon for this," O’Connor said.

But you can't just blame these beautiful blooms. Sure, it's warm -- one of the warmest winters on record -- but while that's helping the trees, the more subtle player right now is the wind.

The winds are taking the pollen from the very tops of the trees and spreading it for miles. That's a little harder to see, but very easy to feel.

"I had to go buy allergy medicine on the way here," Christian Gomez said.

What you can see and feel is not even really the beginning. Once all of the trees start blooming, you can expect even more misery.

"The earlier the pollen comes, the longer the season is," O’Connor said.

We started seeing pollen in January.

The way this warmth has played out, in theory, we could be dealing with pollen for the entirety of 2017.

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