"Blizzard of Pollen" Hitting Hill Country

Keep Austin pollen-free!!

​If you have plans on visiting Austin or the Hill Country any time soon, you better hope you're not allergic to Mountain Cedar: The area is getting hit with massive amounts of the pollen, an expert says.

"In all my life, I have never seen so much Mountain Cedar pollen, especially in the Texas Hill Country. To call what is happening a blizzard of pollen would not be an exaggeration," says Dr. Paul Ratner of Sylvana Research in San Antonio.

A blizzard of pollen sounds like fun!! Make snowmen out of mucus!

Last spring's rains helped birth the bumper crop, and the recent drought didn't kill it.

Pollen counts that are as bad as any in the last 15 years or so "are causing even the least symptomatic to suffer," the company says.

They're announcing the opening of a "pollen chamber," which doesn't sound too ominous, to study such things. It's one of only seven in the world, they say, and will open in San Antonio.

Until they figure things out, it might be best to stay out of the Hill Country for a while, unless you like sneezing and runny noses.