Striking flashes of color. Bright new scents of a million flowers. 2023 is experiencing a whole new kind of spring, the super bloom. After weeks of storms and floods in southern California, residents now get to experience a boom of blossoms.

Some have heard of this recent event which only occurs every few years, but few understand what it is and why it’s happening. California is widely known in the U.S. for its tremendous biodiversity with both native and foreign flora; however, the southern regions live in a constant state of drought which leads to the death or rapid decrease of the populace in blossoms.

According to Science Friday, the super bloom can only exist when dormant seeds which are buried and preserved underground absorb enough lasting water to emerge. By delaying the bloom of thousands of seeds, the super bloom is the collection of years of unearthed flowers finding their way to the surface. This rapid growth or cover crop can be very useful for land erosion in dry compact places such as LA or Orange County.

Nevertheless, this immediate bloom. While stunning in appearance for visitors and tourists, has its downsides. The citizens most affected during this estranged bloom will be residents with severe allergies or pollen sensitivities. These hypersensitive individuals often suffer from the intense and adverse effects due to their allergies.

Within our campus, junior Kayla Madrid has been experiencing some of the worst allergies she has had in years. Compiling weeks of pain and discomfort while also having an appreciation for the super bloom’s intense beauty.

Even with the extraordinary views the super bloom brings, students and teachers alike are likely to struggle with the up-and-coming pollen surge.

“[With] the super bloom coming [California] is going to look beautiful and filled with nature again, instead of the dried grass that we’re used to,” Madrid said.

English teacher Antoinette Perez is another of the many who experiences intensive allergies due to past living residence in Savannah, Georgia where pollen can get up to an inch thick on outside surfaces. This kind of extreme phenomenon is unlike anything California has experienced in the past, until the super bloom. On a daily basis dealing with these allergies can be both painful and overwhelming.

“I would say I go through at least one box of tissues a day if not more than that on my worst days,” Perez said. “I don’t sleep very well at night and I wake up completely stuffy, nose running, my eyes itching like I want to rip [them out].”

It is fair to say, most students and staff with sensitivity to pollen should prepare for stuffy noses and stock up on Kleenex, or take other preventative measures suggested by California Department of Parks and Recreation to mitigate the effects of intense allergies.

“This is supposed to be the worst year on record for people with severe allergies and then learning about the Super Bloom . . . I go back to those moments of extreme pain and discomfort,” said Perez.