Why is Everyone in the Hudson Valley Sneezing This Week?

If you've noticed more people coughing and sneezing, you're not alone.

No, there's not some sort of unusually courageous cold going around. That sneezing is most likely due to something else. Because of the unseasonably cold spring many people haven't even given thought about seasonal allergies, but believe it or not, they're here and they're hitting Hudson Valley residents especially bad this week.

All of the snow and cold weather has delayed most people from thinking about and preparing for allergy season. But the weather hasn't kept trees from blooming on time. Most medications, especially allergy nasal sprays, need time to build up in the body before they can properly fight allergies. If you've only just started to take those allergy pills, they're probably not up to full strength yet.

The "surprise" of blooming trees and flowers despite the cold weather could account for the incredible amount of people with watery eyes and stuffy noses this week. Just looking around the Hudson Valley it's easy to see the pollen in the air and on car windshields.

According to pollen.com tree pollen is medium-high levels now but will continue to climb over the next few weeks. Ragweed and grass pollen haven't even got started yet, so if you're allergic you might want to start taking your medicine now.

Are you feeling the effects of spring allergies yet? Let us know how you're dealing with them on our Facebook page.