TOLEDO, Ohio — Everyone knows the awful feeling, the silent buzz, then the irritating little sting that leaves your skin itching. It means mosquitoes have arrived.
Lately, the mild winter has opened the opportunity for mosquitoes already but will this peak mosquito season come sooner with warmer days ahead?
The fight against mosquitoes is on. The bugs have already started biting, even though it is still technically winter.
The mosquitos that are out now are mosquitoes from last year. Experts said the warm weather, combined with a lot of standing water, is the perfect recipe for mosquitoes to hatch this spring.
In the last couple of weeks, Toledo has seen warm days in the 70s which has opened the door for mosquitos to get a quick bite before the winter chill returns.
"The more rain in the spring or maybe if we had a lot more snow in the winter and that melts, the more water that we have left over from snowfall," said Paul Bauman, a biologist and general manager with the Toledo Area Sanitary District. "It’s that accumulating water in the spring that really kind of tells the tale of what season you have to start with."
So when can you expect the mosquito season to start up?
"We are definitely seeing them in the water now so we’re out treating water, doing larvae siding, treating for larvae," Bauman said. "That starts early February, March, that’s pretty typical. Adults, it’ll take them a little longer to develop now as larvae because that water is colder and they're a little slower developing."
If more rain and less snow continue to fall, that could speed up the process for more mosquitoes to be out this spring and summer.
"If we get kind of repeated heavy rains, that tends to replenish those water sources and it will lead to increased mosquito populations," Bauman said.
But with fluctuating temperatures lately, how cold is too cold for mosquitoes?
"In terms of adult mosquitoes, it pretty much requires below-freezing temperatures," Bauman said. "So our season continues once we get those adults hatching out. It’ll go until we get the first hard frost and that usually takes care of most of those adult mosquitoes."
Bauman said the peak biting times are dusk and dawn. He recommends wearing long-sleeved clothing and eliminating any puddles after rain showers as ways to help fight against mosquitoes this spring and summer.