Local doctors warn of ‘high-gear’ allergy season fueled by early warmth

Unseasonably warm weather is pushing allergy season into high gear earlier than normal across the Intermountain West. Family physician Dr. Gordon Harkness, a medical director with Optum in Utah and Idaho, says changing weather patterns are extending the time pollen is in the air and increasing how much people are exposed.

“When it warms up earlier, the plants start doing their thing,” Harkness said. “They start growing, they start pushing out blossoms, they start pushing out pollen earlier, and sometimes the length of time that those pollen counts are high remains for a much longer period of time.”