Pine pollens made a mess of your car, but you could just hose that off or wait for the next rain. As ubiquitous as pine pollen is, it doesn't generally get inside your head.

That's a job for hardwood pollens, the nearly microscopic particles from oaks and maples and poplars that invade your sinuses and make you miserable in the springtime. And the hardwoods released the Kraken early this year -- a vicious and viscous assault that started way back in March. Last year we had one day with an extremely high pollen count in March. Guess how many we had this year?

Sunday was another nasty pollen day, with an "extremely high" count of 2,555. We got a bit of a break on Monday (716), but the count jumped back up too 1,228 today, according to Atlanta Allergy and Asthma Clinic.

About the Author

Featured

Fulton DA Fani Willis (center) with Nathan J. Wade (right), the special prosecutor she hired to manage the Trump case and had a romantic relationship with, at a news conference announcing charges against President-elect Donald Trump and others in Atlanta, Aug. 14, 2023. Georgia’s Supreme Court on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, upheld an appeals court's decision to disqualify Willis from the election interference case against Trump and his allies. (Kenny Holston/New York Times)

Credit: NYT