Clouds of pollen reduce Calgarians to tears
Stephen Hunt | CBC News | Posted: May 29, 2018 2:52 AM | Last Updated: May 29, 2018
Crazy weather conspires to make a city sneeze its collective head off
It hasn't been raining pollen — it just seems that way, as clouds of yellow dust have fallen upon the city.
That was the message Monday from Plantation Garden Centre owner Colin Atter, who acknowledged that things seem pretty bad in Calgary this year for those afflicted with seasonal allergies.
"That [yellow dust] comes from spruce, pine, Douglas fir — all the coniferous trees — and it's just clouds right now. It's unbelievable," Atter said in an interview on The Homestretch on Monday.
Atter blamed the yellow haze on an odd confluence of events — namely, a late winter that delayed some flowers from blooming, followed immediately by a hot, dry and windy month of May that's made it feel more like mid-July than spring.
"Normally, you have a season where the Maydays will bloom, and then the lilacs will bloom," he said. "I'm seeing things blooming that usually happen a month apart.
"It's all happening at the same time!"
Late season causes plant havoc
Not only is the absence of spring-like weather playing havoc with a lot of people's sinuses, but it's also thrown a curveball into growing season, Atter said.
"It's crazy," he said. "This year has been the weirdest year. I can't gauge anything. It's been so warm since the beginning of May — we usually have some frosty nights, we have some snow on the long weekend — it has been consistently beautiful and hot since the first of May.
"[As a result], everything is well caught up," he said.
The warm weather has meant a stampede on his shelves.
"It's been crazy since easily Mother's Day," he said.
Judging by the forecast, sneezing season might just about be behind us.
"Probably after the next couple days, if it rains, it will probably be gone. It's really kind of dissipated," he said.
Cold weather not done yet
And despite it being the hottest May in 120 years for Calgary, Atter says take nothing for granted.
"People look at the long range forecast and they see — the seasoned gardeners, they hold off [planting]," he said. "We've got a night coming up, Wednesday night, [where it's forecast to drop to] plus four [degrees].
"That will kill your basil, that will do some damage to your squashes, or your melons or your cucumbers — so that might be a night to cover some things up if it gets down to four degrees."
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With files from The Homestretch and Justin Pennell.