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Allergies acting up? Here’s why last year’s hurricanes may be to blame

By
Updated  March 31, 2025 5:29pm EDT
Tampa
FOX 13 News

Last year’s hurricanes may be to blame for your allergies

FOX 13's Ariel Plasencia reports.

The Brief

    • Trees may be producing more pollen because of the 2024 hurricanes.
    • Horticulture experts say if a tree is concerned about potential future resources, it will put more of its energy into reproduction to facilitate the growth of offspring, which results in more pollen.
    • Right now, the main culprits for pollen are oak and pine trees.

TAMPA, Fla. - Hurricanes Helene and Milton may be impacting this year’s spring season by causing trees to produce more pollen, experts say. 

Local perspective:

While the Tampa Bay area did lose plenty of trees in these storms – in fact, urban foresters estimate the hurricanes may have destroyed as much as 5% of Tampa’s shade canopy – the trees still standing may actually be producing more pollen this year because of the hurricanes. 

READ: Warmer spring to trigger longer allergy season

"So trees and plants can get triggered by stressful events, which makes them flower and fruit more, thus more pollen," Hillsborough County residential horticulture extension agent Tia Silvasy told FOX 13. 

If a tree is concerned about potential future resources, it will put more of its energy into reproduction to facilitate the growth of offspring, which results in more pollen, according to experts. 

"The number of trees is definitely a factor with the pollen," Silvasy added. "And then what time did they flower? And the weather conditions, too, at that time." 

READ: Pollen reaches high to extreme levels across southern US as season reaches full throttle

Why you should care:

Right now, the main culprits for pollen are oak and pine trees, Silvasy told FOX 13. And it doesn’t take much pollen to set off someone’s allergies. 

"You only need 10 pollen particles per cubic meter of air just to trigger symptoms. We get up to one-thousand, two-thousand, and three-thousand. So, it's a tremendous problem,", explained allergy and immunology professor Dr. Richard Lockey with USF College of Medicine Internal Medicine. "Pollen is everywhere."

The Source: This story was written with information collected by FOX 13's Ariel Plasencia. 

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