When is cedar fever season in Texas?

Mountain cedar pollinates from mid-December through early March, peaking in mid-January. Bursts are often triggered by cold fronts, so the worst days are cold, dry, and windy.

Does cedar fever cause a real fever?

Rarely. Cedar fever is severe allergic rhinitis — fatigue, body aches, congestion, and itchy eyes, sometimes with a slightly raised temperature. A genuine high fever points to a cold or flu, not allergy.

How high do mountain cedar counts get?

Very high. A typical peak runs 20000 to 32000 grains/m3, and San Antonio recorded 80000 grains/m3 in 1982 — among the highest pollen counts measured anywhere.

Where is cedar fever worst?

The Central Texas Hill Country west of Interstate 35, where Ashe juniper dominates. The tree's range also reaches Oklahoma, Arkansas, and southern Missouri.

Why does cedar pollinate in winter?

Ashe juniper is unusual: it releases pollen in the dormant season, mostly December through February, when almost nothing else does. Only the male trees pollinate.

How do I treat cedar fever?

Start an intranasal corticosteroid spray before the peak, add a second-generation antihistamine, stay in on cold-front days, and keep windows closed. Immunotherapy can build long-term tolerance.

Cedar Fever: Texas Mountain Cedar Season, Symptoms, and Relief

Cedar fever is the severe winter allergy that mountain cedar, or Ashe juniper, causes across Central Texas. The tree releases pollen from mid-December through early March, peaking in mid-January, and the bursts are often set off by cold fronts (per Texas A&M and Cleveland Clinic). It is a true winter anomaly: almost nothing else pollinates this heavily in the dormant season.

The counts are extreme. A typical peak runs 20000 to 32000 grains per cubic meter, and the San Antonio record hit 80000 grains/m3 in 1982. Grains are roughly 20 to 30 microns and travel far on the wind, so people far from any juniper still feel it.

Cedar fever peaks in the dead of winter

While the rest of the country is dormant, Central Texas mountain cedar (Ashe juniper) pollinates Dec–Feb.

Mountain cedar

Documented mountain-cedar season (Cleveland Clinic; Texas A&M AgriLife), not the seasonal model.

When is cedar fever season?

Ashe juniper begins releasing pollen in mid-December, often the day a cold front pushes through, peaks in mid-January, and tapers by early March. Cold, dry, windy days drive the worst counts, which is the opposite of most pollen seasons. Only the male trees pollinate; their cones turn brown after shedding pollen from December into February (per Texas A&M).

Why it feels like the flu

Despite the name, cedar fever rarely causes a true fever. It is severe allergic rhinitis: the immune system overreacts to the pollen's major allergen, Jun a 1, producing fatigue, body aches, and a slightly raised temperature alongside sneezing, congestion, and itchy, watery eyes. A genuine high fever points to a cold or flu instead, not allergy (per Cleveland Clinic).

Where cedar fever hits hardest

The worst of it lands in the Central Texas Hill Country west of Interstate 35, where Ashe juniper dominates the landscape. The tree's range runs from northeastern Mexico through the south-central US into southern Missouri, so Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Missouri see cedar pollen too. Because the grains travel on winter winds, Austin and San Antonio get hammered even where junipers are not right outside the door.

How to get through cedar season

Start before the peak. Intranasal corticosteroid sprays are the most effective single treatment, paired with a second-generation antihistamine such as cetirizine or loratadine. Watch the count and stay in on cold-front days, keep windows shut, run heat on recirculate, and change clothes after being outside. For long-term relief, allergy immunotherapy can build tolerance to mountain cedar (per Cleveland Clinic). Because the season lands in the dead of winter, cedar fever is easy to mistake for a stubborn cold; if your "January cold" returns the same week every year, the cedar count is the likelier culprit.

Cedar fever, by the numbers

80,000grains/m³

record San Antonio count (1982)

NAB collector / KSAT

20–30µm

mountain-cedar pollen grain size

Texas Parks & Wildlife

Dec–Feb

peak mountain-cedar season

Cleveland Clinic

Check your local cedar forecast

Pollen seasons vary sharply by region. These metros see some of the worst cedar pressure — check the current forecast for each, or look up any US city on the pollen count hub:

Austin, TX pollen count — Ground zero for cedar fever — ringed by Ashe juniper west of I-35.
San Antonio, TX pollen count — Holds the record mountain-cedar count and sits in the heart of cedar country.
Waco, TX pollen count — On the northern edge of the Hill Country cedar belt.
Fort Worth, TX pollen count — North-Central Texas catches heavy cedar pollen on winter cold fronts.
Oklahoma City, OK pollen count — Ashe juniper's range reaches into Oklahoma, carrying winter cedar pollen north.
Dallas, TX pollen count — Cold fronts push Hill Country cedar pollen into the Metroplex each winter.

Frequently asked

When is cedar fever season in Texas?: Mountain cedar pollinates from mid-December through early March, peaking in mid-January. Bursts are often triggered by cold fronts, so the worst days are cold, dry, and windy.
Does cedar fever cause a real fever?: Rarely. Cedar fever is severe allergic rhinitis — fatigue, body aches, congestion, and itchy eyes, sometimes with a slightly raised temperature. A genuine high fever points to a cold or flu, not allergy.
How high do mountain cedar counts get?: Very high. A typical peak runs 20000 to 32000 grains/m3, and San Antonio recorded 80000 grains/m3 in 1982 — among the highest pollen counts measured anywhere.
Where is cedar fever worst?: The Central Texas Hill Country west of Interstate 35, where Ashe juniper dominates. The tree's range also reaches Oklahoma, Arkansas, and southern Missouri.
Why does cedar pollinate in winter?: Ashe juniper is unusual: it releases pollen in the dormant season, mostly December through February, when almost nothing else does. Only the male trees pollinate.
How do I treat cedar fever?: Start an intranasal corticosteroid spray before the peak, add a second-generation antihistamine, stay in on cold-front days, and keep windows closed. Immunotherapy can build long-term tolerance.