RALEIGH, N.C. — Mother nature is not playing around this pollen season.

What You Need To Know

  • NCDEQ Division of Air Quality reported record tree pollen count Monday

  • It shattered old record set in 2010

  • Craig Carlson said his car wash is reaping the benefits

If it seems like there is an extreme amount of pollen, it is because there is.

The Division of Air Quality for the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality reported more than 16,000 grains of tree pollen on Monday. That shattered the record set in 2010, since it started tracking pollen counts in 1999.

The yellow powdery substance is coating everything from sidewalks to door frames to cars. 

An employee at Hugo’s Express Car Wash on Capital Boulevard in Raleigh said business is booming.

“You gotta wash your car off or rinse it every single day,” Craig Carlson said.

The California native said the car wash is making more money since pollen season kicked into high gear.

“Business has been really really good. We have gone from averaging 400 cars a day to 600 a day,” Carlson said.

He said one man’s headache is another man’s treasure.

“We get more businesses like Uber and Lyft because they have to keep their cars clean every day, and we get contractors that come in here,” Carlson said.

It’s a cyclical business model customers seem to latch onto like the handlebar mustache he has worn on his face since he was 17.

“They know me by heart, and they know that I’m an outspoken person, and I try to be professional,” Carlson said.