Willamette Valley grass pollen count expected to rise over Memorial Day weekend

Grass pollen levels have officially reached high levels in the Willamette Valley, and with warm and dry weather ahead, levels are expected to remain steady through the weekend before rising.

The grass pollen count was 106 particles per cubic meter of air Friday, according to the Oregon Allergy Associates pollen count. Pollen counts from 20 to 199 are considered high.

This is over five times the count for Thursday. The Thursday count was recorded at 20, still considered in the high range.

In Eugene, the Oregon Allergy Associates reported the levels were the highest in the afternoon Thursday from about 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Most of the added count has come from cultivated grass fields.

“I expect it to hold steady for the next couple days and then with the warmer drier weather forecast for Sunday and into early next week it will go up from there,” Kraig W. Jacobson of Oregon Allergy Associates said in the online pollen count.

Pollen counts are usually higher on warm, windy days. Windborne pollen can travel several miles.

In June 2023, Oregon recorded its highest pollen count in history at 1,301 particles, the highest ever recorded in 25 years of counting.

The grass pollen season in Oregon typically peaks in June and ends around July 4.

Emma Logan is an outdoors journalism intern for the Statesman Journal. She can be reached at elogan@salem.gannett.com or on X @emmmalogan

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Willamette Valley grass pollen count expected to rise