Fall Allergy Season Has Arrived In North Texas

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NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) - It may not feel like fall in North Texas, but those who suffer from allergies know the season is well underway.

"The fall season has certainly started," said Dr. Marie Fitzgerald, an allergist with Family Allergy and Asthma Care. "In fact yesterday, our pollen counts were in the 800s for elm tree. So that's the highest we've seen the season, and ragweed has certainly jumped up in the past week or two."

Allergists say those particular pollens start to come out when the brutal summer heat finally dips.

"They really like the warm, sunny weather that we're having right now," Dr. Fitzgerald said.

That's why it's a good idea to plan your outdoor activities around pollen counts if you have fall allergies.

"Especially during 5 to 10 a.m. when we see pollen counts the highest," said Dr. Christina Huddleston, an allergist and immunologist at North Texas Allergy and Asthma.

Allergists expect this season to be pretty standard but say overall, allergy symptoms have gotten worse in recent years.

"And we think that's due to just warmer weather in general being all year round, as well as increasing pollution counts, so all of that leads to increased pollen," Dr. Huddleston said.

October is usually the worst month for fall allergies.

Pollen counts typically drop towards the end of November, when the weather gets much cooler, so allergy sufferers then get a break through December – until mountain cedar comes back out in January.

Allergists don't expect the ran in this week's forecast to bring much relief for people. It can wash some of the pollen out of the air, but symptoms sometimes get worse after the wet weather passes.