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Pollen season returns to Fairbanks FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTUU/KTVF) - Pollen season has begun in Interior Alaska, with those suffering from seasonal allergies feeling its presence in their throats and sinuses.According to Susan Harry, a Certified Pollen Counter funded by OneTree Alaska at the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus, pollen from alder trees first appeared toward the end of April.“We didn’t really see birch until, it was last week.Yeah, right before green up.I mean, it came pretty fast,” she said.“So normally I have a little lead up to it, but this year, with this, the later spring, it went from low to high within like a day.” This spike in pollen count, Harry explained, took place on Friday, with numbers reaching 932 pollen grains per cubic meter of air, and since then, the amount seems to have leveled off, with Monday seeing 925 grains per cubic meter.Before saying the numbers have flattened out, however, she said she would give it another week or so to see what it does because of the rain.“With the rain and the moisture, that could be keeping it down, so we’re not out of the woods.We could probably see another couple of weeks of high pollen counts, depending how dry it is.” Harry noted that this spike put the pollen timeline on track with previous years, although she said the count is lower than is typically seen during allergy season.“Around 1,500 [grains per cubic meter] is kind of our average, like, just in a regular year,” she said.Meanwhile, Fairbanks holds the worldwide record for the highest birch pollen count, with Harry noting that on May 11, 2020, there were 7,045 grains per cubic meter.To determine how much pollen is in the air, a machine on campus collects a sample by spinning greased rods in a rotor, catching the pollen as they rotate.The collected particles are then stained so that pollen grains can be differentiated from other substances, classified by type and counted using a microscope.“That’s called the raw count.The raw count is then put into a mathematical formula that compensates for the time, the percentage of cycle, et cetera, and then that gives you the amount per cubic meter of air, and that’s what gets reported out to the public,” Harry explained.These counts are taken Monday through Friday, with the rods spinning one minute out of every ten during each 24-hour period.According to Harry, birch pollen lasts until about mid-June before tapering off, to be replaced by grass pollen, which lingers until August.“When spruce starts to show up on the scene, which is probably the end of May into June, that’s about when the birch starts to dip down, and that’s usually what people see on their cars and on windows, is the spruce because it’s actually like three to four times the size of a birch pollen grain,” she said.Harry advises that those looking to go outdoors but lower their pollen exposure keep their activities to the early morning and late evening, when conditions are cooler.“When it’s warm in the middle of the day, that’s when the trees are more active with their pollen, so yeah, if you’re going to do outdoor work, that’s the best time,” she added.After being outside around pollen, Harry recommends that those with allergies take a shower and change their clothes to avoid bringing the pollen to bed with them, “because it’ll be on your pillow and then at night while you’re sleeping, you’re inhaling the pollen.” Pets can also drag pollen inside with them.See a spelling or grammar error?Report it to web@ktuu.com Copyright 2026 KTUU.All rights reserved.