Spring is in the air, and as the oak trees blossom, so does business at the carwash.
"I'm pretty lackadaisical about washing my car usually, but I mean, when it's completely spotted in yellow, it kind of is a problem,” Noah Rowntree said.
All across Central Texas, pollen is coating just about everything in yellow. In addition to driving allergy sufferers crazy, the oak pollen is also driving many Austinites like Rowntree to make numerous trips to the carwash.
"I can't actually remember it being this bad, but I live around a bunch of trees now, so that probably has something to do with it,” Rowntree said.
Thanks to the pesky pollen, those who like having a clean car are spraying more cash into keeping it that way.
If you think that's annoying, try keeping 300 cars clean. Dealerships like CarMax say pollen season means vehicles get cleaned every day to maintain that new car appeal.
"Every inventory associate has a section of the lot that they have to ensure that they're taking a look at and ensuring that the car gets cleaned, and so with every single section of our lot, we try to do our best with each one of them,” Jason Surzyn with CarMax said.
Surzyn says it's more of a timely burden than a financial one, and based off what allergists are predicting, the pollen might not be going away any time soon.
"Last year, and it looks like this year too, the season might run a little bit long because many of the trees are blooming, possibly because they’ve gotten a little bit of water for the first time in a few years,” Dr. Doug Barstow with the Allergy and Asthma Associates said.
Allergists estimate this pollen season could potentially last through June.