Pollen today
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Pollen today
Loading today’s values…
Google gave no index for tree, grass or weed pollen here today.
Next four days, highest level each day:
Source: Includes pollen data from GoogleGoogle Maps
Source: Includes pollen data from GoogleIncludes data from Google Maps
Google’s index for each plant it models in Des Moines today. A plant out of season has no index.
Source: Includes pollen data from GoogleGoogle Maps
The forecast that moves pollen around, and the air beside it.
Forecast: National Weather Service, updated 1:57 pm CT.
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Each thread is one kind of pollen, and each square is one week, colored by that week’s highest level.
Records for Des Moines began on October 14, 2026. Each week adds a square.
Highest level each week, November 2025 to November 2026, from each day’s forecast.
| Week | Tree | Grass | Weed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 21 to Oct 27 | Not recorded | Not recorded | 1 Very low |
| Oct 14 to Oct 20 | Not recorded | Not recorded | 2 Low |
Source: Includes pollen data from GoogleIncludes data from Google Maps
What this forecast doesn’t measure, and when to get help.
Google’s index covers tree, grass and weed pollen only, so there is no mold level for Des Moines on this page. The National Allergy Bureau publishes pollen and mold counts measured at its stations. Our guides cover common molds such as Alternaria, Cladosporium and Aspergillus.
The forecast doesn’t cover allergens indoors either: dust mites, cockroaches, mice, cats and dogs. Our guides explain each one, starting with dust mites and cats.
An estimated 10.3% of adults in the city of Des Moines have current asthma, according to the CDC’s PLACES estimate for 2023 (95% confidence interval: 9.2% to 11.5%). It is a statistical estimate from national survey data, not a count.
9 allergists enrolled in Medicare practice in the Des Moines area: 1.19 for every 100,000 people, fewer than the 1.22 across the US. The count doesn’t show how soon you can get an appointment. See the doctors listed in the Des Moines area, or how every state and metro compares.
AllergyNest count from CMS’s Doctors and Clinicians file (October 2026) and Census population estimates for 2025.
The geography, climate and plants behind each season here, with a source for every fact.
Two rivers, the Des Moines and the Raccoon, meet at Des Moines.2 The city’s urban forest is estimated at 50,000 trees, providing nearly 30% canopy cover.2 It includes roughly 75% native species, with common trees like hackberry and honey locust.2 Silver maple is native throughout Iowa and a common part of its bottomland forests.3 Iowa State University gives its flowering time as March to May and notes that it flowers very early in spring.3
At the airport, a typical year brings about 37 inches of precipitation and about 184 days between the last spring freeze and the first fall freeze.1 Iowa has warmed by 0.5 to 1 °F in the last century and has seen roughly 10% more precipitation.2
Goldenrod often takes the blame for hay fever because it flowers abundantly during the peak allergy season, over a long period in late summer and fall.4 Iowa State University Extension calls that reputation undeserved and names ragweed as the primary hay fever culprit.4
Answered from the values on this page.
Very little. None of the plants Google models is above 0 in Des Moines today.
No. It’s Google’s modeled pollen index, from 0 (none) to 5 (very high), calculated for the location of central Des Moines. A pollen count is the number of pollen grains measured in a cubic meter of air at a counting station. How our pollen index works.
Twice a day. We fetch new values soon after midnight in Des Moines, so each day starts with its own values, and again after Google’s daily model run, usually by about 9:30 am CT. Each section shows when its values were retrieved.
Since October 14, 2026. The year in pollen above fills in as each day is recorded, and weeks before then show no data. Google doesn’t provide past values, so nothing earlier can be added.
Source: Includes pollen data from GoogleIncludes data from Google Maps