Cold & Flu When Is Common Cold Season? By Kristina Duda, RN facebook twitter linkedin Kristina Duda, BSN, RN, CPN, has been working in healthcare since 2002. She specializes in pediatrics and disease and infection prevention. Learn about our editorial process Kristina Duda, RN Medically reviewed by Medically reviewed by Michael Menna, DO on March 17, 2020 Michael Menna, DO, is board-certified in emergency medicine. He is an attending emergency medicine physician at White Plains Hospital in White Plains, New York and also works at an urgent care center and a telemedicine company that provides care to patients across the country. Learn about our Medical Review Board Michael Menna, DO on March 17, 2020 Print You can get a cold year-round, but most people consider the winter months to be common cold season. The viruses that cause colds also spread more easily just after a drop in temperature and humidity. Generally, this means the United States' cold season starts sometime around September and ends sometime around April. However, this doesn't mean the cold weather itself makes you sick. Prolonged exposure to cold temperatures can cause very serious illnesses like hypothermia, but there is no strong evidence to show that cold temperatures can give you a cold. Only exposure to a virus that causes the common cold can do that. Hero Images / Getty Images Why Colds Are More Common at Certain Times Colds are more common during certain times of the year for several reasons: People spend more time indoors and closer to each other during the winter.Children are in school and sharing germs with many more children than they do during the summer.The viruses that cause the common cold spread more easily after drops in humidity and temperature, which are more common during the cold months.Your nasal passages are drier during the winter (due to drier air), allowing cold viruses to take hold and make you sick more effectively than they can during the spring and summer months.According to preliminary research in mice, cold-causing viruses replicate better at temperatures just below body temperature (such as in a nose that's breathing in cold air). Cold weather doesn't make you sick, but it does make your body a more suitable environment for the rhinovirus and other viruses that cause the common cold to flourish. How to Avoid Colds During Cold Season You have a lot of options for reducing your risk of getting a cold, even when the climate is just right one. Wash Your Hands The simple act of washing your hands is an incredibly important part of keeping yourself and those around you healthy. You touch your face thousands of times a day, and you touch things in your environment even more often. Washing those germs off your hands is essential to keeping them out of your body. It may sound silly, but you could be washing your hands the wrong way, which leaves you at risk for illness. How to Wash Your Hands Properly Cover Your Cough If you are sick and coughing, use your elbow to cover your mouth when you cough. When you cough into your hands, you just spread the germs onto everything you touch—and then to anyone else who might touch those things after you. Changing how you cover your cough really isn't that difficult and it makes a big difference in the spread of germs. Why Covering Your Cough Is a Big Deal Take Precautions It's hard to stay away from sick people. Many parents are reluctant to keep their children home from school, meaning they take their germs into your child's classroom. Your co-workers may not want to call in sick, so they come to work and infect you. Traveling can mean dry, recycled airplane air and exposure to germs from all over. Washing your hands frequently is still the number one suggestion to keep yourself healthy, no matter where you are. Beyond that, washing toys, shared phones, and other things people touch frequently can help. Staying Healthy When Your Family Is Sick A Word From Verywell People will likely blame the common cold on cold weather for years to come, despite evidence that points to a complex set of contributing factors—the weather being but a minor player. Although more people get sick with colds during the winter months, the temperature outside is not the direct cause of these illnesses. Cold season falls during colder months for all of the reasons discussed, and possibly some that aren't even known yet. Deciding When to Call in Sick Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Looking to avoid getting the flu? Our free guide has everything you need to stay healthy this season. Sign up and get yours today. Sign Up You're in! Thank you, {{form.email}}, for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. What are your concerns? Other Inaccurate Hard to Understand Submit Article Sources Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Ikäheimo TM, Jaakkola K, Jokelainen J, et al. A decrease in temperature and humidity precedes human rhinovirus infections in a cold climate. Viruses. 2016;8(9):244. doi:10.3390/v8090244 Foxman EF, Storer JA, Fitzgerald ME, et al. Temperature-dependent innate defense against the common cold virus limits viral replication at warm temperature in mouse airway cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2015;112(3):827-832. doi:10.1073/pnas.1411030112 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Common colds: protect yourself and others. Updated February 11, 2019.