Pollen dust should start washing away with rain coming this week

By Terry Eliasen, Meteorologist, WBZ-TV Executive Weather Producer 

BOSTON – It’s always something in New England. You make plans for a barbeque in the spring time and then it rains (see Memorial Day Weekend 2021). Or you want to go to the beach and when you leave your house it’s sunny and 80, only to but at the shore it is cloudy and 55 with a bone-chilling wind off the ocean.

Or, see this past weekend. Sunday could not have been better.

Sunshine… check

Low Humidity… check

Light Breeze… check

Comfy Temperatures… check

Waves of pollen wafting into your lungs, causing you to sneeze and wheeze, covering your car, deck and patio in a gross yellow-green slime… check

I am fairly certain that if you were to cut me open right now, you would think I were an alien being. Green lungs and sinuses for sure.

So, the million-dollar question on this Monday, when will pollen season be over?

To properly answer that, first, let’s take the thousand-foot view. Pollen season in New England lasts from about April through September and comes in waves.

Tree pollen season starts at the end of March and really gets going in April and May.

Grass pollen season begins a bit later, in May and goes through much of the summer, with different grasses peaking at different times.

Finally, weed pollen season peaks in August and September, essentially lasting until the first frost.

This time of year is often the worst for allergy sufferers due to the combination of a near peaking of tree pollen and grass pollens all at once. That yellow-green stuff wafting around for the last few weeks is pine pollen, one of the last tree pollens to peak. Pine pollen is also one of the largest pollen grains, hence why it is so much more visible. Pine pollen grains are three times larger than the average grass pollen, most of which are microscopic. So, in fact, while the pine pollen may seem like the worst, it is mostly the stuff you cannot see that is really affecting your sinuses. You also may have noticed the white, puffy stuff floating around recently. These are actually seeds, not pollen, from the Cottonwood and Poplar family. Again, a case of the stuff you can see, not being all that harmful.

Does it seem like this year is worse than usual? And doesn’t it seem like we say that EVERY year?

I think this year is fairly typical. It may be a bit worse than the past few years thanks to the relatively dry conditions we have had in May and early June. While we have had a few rain events, they have been somewhat spotty and not nearly enough to wash all the pollen away. A large portion of eastern Massachusetts is in a “moderate drought” right now. Compare that to last May when Boston had nearly 5 inches of rain and got soaked for 4 straight days over Memorial Day weekend.

Now for the good news! 

Tree pollen season has peaked and will be just about done within a few weeks. Combine that with an unsettled/wet pattern in the next 7 days and much of that green slime on your deck should be washed away. 

Yes, we will still have some grass pollen around for a while, but the next “big peak” for allergy sufferers doesn’t really come until mid-August when the ragweed and mold seasons arrive.