According to the Alabama Allergy and Asthma Center, the pollen count for trees is high in 2018.

In Tuscaloosa, spring means warm weather, more hours of daylight and flowers blooming with spring allergies. Angela Hammond is a certified registered nurse practitioner and clinical director for the Family and Staff Clinic at the UMC. 

“A lot of people probably have some allergies and don’t have much problem with it,” Hammond said. “Then there are other people who are very sensitive who have a lot of headaches, nasal draining and sneezing, watery or itchy eyes.”

Hammond said the UMC Family and Staff Clinic sees a lot of people with allergy symptoms like headaches, nasal drainage and congestion. 

People around campus may have noticed yellow puddles of pollen after rainfall. These bright puddles are the result of pollen being washed away by the rain.

One of Neal Hargle’s responsibilities as a Tuscaloosa County Extension Agent is to help predict how active a pollen season will be in Tuscaloosa County. 

“We’ll have pollen all summer long,” Hargle said. “We have plants that bloom in spring, summer, fall.”

The weather in the summer is more hot than humid, Hargle said. This causes a decrease in the amount of airborne pollen. This means that people suffering from pollen allergies can look forward to some allergy relief in the summer.