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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- As the snow disappears from the foothills, can the pollen be far behind?
And the coming allergy season may be a bad one, experts warn.
"In the past five years, pollen counts have been low because of the drought, but last year it was high because (it was a) high-moisture year, and I expect this year to be the same," said Dr. Alan Bitner of the Intermountain Allergy and Asthma Clinic, which began tracking pollen last week.
Bitner said the perfect weather for trees to cross-pollinate is when it is warm, dry and breezy.
The initial returns from the tracking show a high amount of pollen from elm trees -- normal for this time of year. But the emergence of the elm pollen also signals the pending arrival of the cedar pollen, from which many more people suffer.
"Cedar is probably the most potent tree allergy that we see," Bitner said. Cedar season is still a couple of weeks away and continues until the end of April.
In the late spring and summer, grass allergies take hold as the trees stop pollinating. Weed allergies, begin around August and last longer in Utah than in many other places.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
