SAN DIEGO — People across San Diego County are noticing an uptick in gnats and other pesky insects.
It's not just gnats, midges are out in full force, too. They are often mistaken for gnats but fly much higher.
"Tons of gnats, we’ve been seeing a lot of them," said one San Diegan walking at Lake Murray.
"They can get in your nose and your mouth. You have to like bat them away," said Nancy Goldberg.
"There are tons and tons of these gnats when you’re waking and you end up walking through them and doing this (hand gesture) the whole time cause they're all over you," Berdele Katz, who walks the lake regularly.
The insects are showing up all over San Diego County.
"They’re in other places that people walk, the riverwalk out in Lakeside, Santee Lakes… everywhere seems to have the gnats," added another San Diegan.
County supervising vector ecologist, Chris Conlan, says the wet winter is the reason behind the explosion in gnats, midges, and even mosquitoes
"What you’re most likely seeing is midges and probably some gnats as well in the mix. Midges tend to breed more in the mud at the bottom of bodies of fresh water. The gnats tend to come out of fresh soil," said Conlan.
Conlan says gnats and midges are typically not attracted to humans but their numbers are so abundant that it’s likely you’ll run into them. He says most are harmless, but there are steps you can take to keep them away.
"Near the homes, outside lighting is attractive to them, so if you can turn off the porch lights if you’re experiencing really high numbers and it's becoming an annoyance to you. That’s one of the things you can do to kind of limit the ones that are attracted to your house," he said.
The insects are expected to bug you for at least another month or two as conditions dry out.