Grass pollen count spikes across the state, with most areas reaching ‘high’ and ‘extreme’ ranges

Victorians who suffer with hayfever have been warned to brace for surging pollen counts, with some parts of the state to be hit with “extreme” levels.

Victoria's Grass Pollen Forecast results for Thursday, November 21 2024. Picture: Melbourne Pollen Count and Forecast

Victorian allergy-sufferers have been warned to stay inside in some regions as the pollen count reaches extreme levels.

The results on the Melbourne Pollen Count and Forecast website revealed that on Thursday, Ballarat and North Central Victoria, South West Victoria and West and South Gippsland fell under the “extreme” range for grass pollen count.

Other parts of the state including Bendigo, Mallee, the North East, Northern Country, East Gippsland and the Wimmera area had a “high” grass pollen count.

All regions are graded from low, moderate, high and extreme.

Melbourne Pollen Count and University of Melbourne Dr Edwin R. Lampugnani said it was common for the state to have high and extreme grass pollen levels at the end of the year.

“The grass pollen season runs from October right through to December, but the core period where we see the most number of high and extreme days occurs in November,” Mr Lampugnani said.

He said 2024’s spring started off “fairly comparable” to last year.

A graph of the increase and decrease of grass pollen count in Melbourne over the years. Picture: Melbourne Pollen Count and Forecast

“But the dry conditions that we’ve seen across Victoria meant there’s been less grass growth and less grass pollen in our air,” Mr Lampugnani said.

“At the moment we’re looking at a lower-than-average season — and all of this depends very much on the rainfall we get.

“It’s still possible there might be a surge, but that seems increasingly unlikely looking at the weather moving forward.”

Mr Lampugnani said the hotspots for the areas where grass pollen count was higher than others depended on the weather conditions.

“We need to find those wind directions — and depending on the amount of wind — will depend how much pollen gets up into the air and is transported,” he said.

A graph of grass pollen count increasing and decreasing over the years across different areas in Victoria. Picture: Melbourne Pollen Count and Forecast

“So various places are different, but there is an indication that in the northwest we’ve already seen dry conditions and that’s being reported by the Grassland Curing data that’s being provided by the CFA.

“I suspect we’ll see an end to the season well before Christmas.”

Mr Lampugnani said although the state had a “lower-than-average” season, it meant grass pollen was still in the air.

“It’s very important that people keep an eye on the grass pollen forecast and the Melbourne pollen website,” he said.

“If they have hayfever or asthma, they should be speaking to their GP and being proactive about their care.

“(They should) make sure they have an asthma action plan — there’s lots of information on the National Asthma Council Australia website.”

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Mr Lampugnani advised people on the importance of thunderstorm asthma as well.

“Even though the conditions are lower than average, that doesn’t mean we’re safe from thunderstorm asthma,” he said.

“And very important to keep an eye on not just the pollen forecasts, but those thunderstorm asthma forecasts issued by the Department of Health.”

It was revealed there would be another 11 high and extreme grass pollen days before next year, and Mr Lampugnani encouraged people to follow instructions in order to best take care of their health.