Forecast

Sunshine allows intense pollen count at Easter!

With the exception of Good Friday, the weather forecast for the Easter weekend promises plenty of sunshine and early summer temperatures above 20 °C. These weather conditions allow intensive pollen count and therefore also intensive stress.

Birch blossom will continue to be the main culprit in the coming days, although it has already passed its peak. Allergy sufferers can still expect moderate to locally high levels of exposure.

Hornbeam pollen can also cause additional stress for birch pollen allergy suffer ers through cross-reaction, but here too many plants have already finished flowering.
However, an increasing amount of beech and oak pollen is being registered in the ambient air, which can also cause cross-reactivity in birch pollen allergy sufferers.

The sycamore tree is in bloom and will also cause exposure during the Easter weekend in Vienna along sycamore avenues or other larger clusters of this non-native tree.

Exposure to ash pollen is coming to an end. Only when the manna ash blossoms can people who are sensitized to the pollen of olive trees experience local symptoms again.

However, as the lilac is also in flower at the moment, which also belongs to the olive family, exposure to its pollen grains can also occur. This ornamental shrub produces very little pollen compared to ash, as it is pollinated by insects. Allergic reactions are therefore only to be expected in direct contact. Nevertheless, a bouquet of lilacs on the Easter table should be avoided by sensitized persons in order to prevent exposure.

The data from the flowering readiness model for this year's grass pollen season indicate that flowering readiness will be reached at the end of April. During phenological observations in Vienna, the first flowering bluegrasses, foxtail grasses and tufted grasses have already been spotted. They are already releasing pollen and can cause minor local pollution.

The white flakes that can already be seen in the air are poplar absorbent cotton. They themselves cannot cause allergic reactions, as they are not pollen but poplar seeds and seed hairs. As the flight of poplar absorbent cotton usually coincides with the start of grass flowering, symptoms are often wrongly attributed to poplar.

Other types of pollen in the ambient air: maple, boxwood, yew, mulberry, carnations, roses, sour grasses, walnuts and cypresses. These are of minor allergological importance.

Forecast from 17.04.2025

Note: The data shown here are model data for the expected start of flowering. For more detailed information on the expected pollen count, please refer to the text forecasts.