Pollen and allergies — L'Aquila
At the foot of the Gran Sasso, L'Aquila spreads out in the Aterno basin at roughly 720 metres of altitude, inside an Apennine basin enclosed by the mountains. The 2009 earthquake and the rebuilding have reshaped quarters, green spaces and urban margins, and the landscape surrounding the city mixes the cultivated valley floor, the slope woods and the high-altitude pastures of the Gran Sasso National Park. The altitude delays flowering, but the continental inland climate makes the summer surprisingly hot.
Periods and allergens to watch
- March and April: alder along the Aterno and the ditches of the basin opens the season on the valley floor.
- April and May: birch in the parks and on the slopes, closely followed by the first grasses.
- May and July: grasses in the basin's pastures, their peak pushed later by the altitude and the cool nights.
- Summer and late summer: mugwort and ragweed on the margins and waste ground, partly tied to the building sites and the areas still under reconstruction.
L'Aquila uses CAMS through Open-Meteo. Concentrations are modeled, not measured locally by this service, at approximately 11 km resolution. The forecast displays alder, birch, grasses, mugwort, olive and ragweed; olive is marginal in this mountain area, while the L'Aquila landscape also hosts species that are not included, such as cypress and parietaria.
The basin's inversions trap pollen and pollutants on the Aterno valley floor in the morning, until the mountain breeze renews the air; on foehn days off the Gran Sasso side dispersion is quick. The model value applies to the basin, not to the passes or the high plains, where the season arrives weeks later. Treat the model as a guide for the area and check real conditions before staying long outdoors.