Sydney and Canberra pollen season
In Sydney and Canberra, grass pollen season runs from September to December. Canberra's season peaks in early to mid November, earlier than Melbourne's, and has far more very high days than Sydney's. Canberra's counts have also grown fast: about 200 % per decade over 2007-2023 (Dhankhar et al. 2025).
What the counts show
| Sydney (Campbelltown, Sep-Dec 2008-2023) | Canberra (Oct-Dec 2007-2009, 2014-2023) | |
|---|---|---|
| Average day | 12.8 grains/m³ | 25.5 grains/m³ |
| Typical (median) day | 7 | 8 |
| Days at 30 or more | 11.5 % | 19.9 % |
| Days at 100 or more | 0.7 % | 5.4 % |
| Highest day recorded | 155 | 510 |
| Trend in the season average | up about 34 % per decade | up about 200 % per decade |
Source: Dhankhar et al. 2025, Table 1. These are published counts, not SkyPollen data. On the Australian scale 50 grains/m³ is High and 100 is Extreme.
When it starts and peaks
- Sydney: the season can start anywhere from late July to early October. In three of five counted years the peak came at the end of October or start of November; in the other two it came over a month later, in December (Beggs et al. 2015). Smaller summer peaks follow the spring one (Medek et al. 2016).
- Canberra: the main peak comes in early to mid November, before Melbourne's, even though Canberra is colder. A smaller bump often follows in January. That is why a simple warmth count does not time Canberra's season (Medek et al. 2016; Dhankhar et al. 2025).
- Rain sets the size. A wet late winter and spring means a bigger season: spring rainfall tracked the season's grass pollen with r = 0.62 in Sydney and 0.74 in Canberra (Dhankhar et al. 2025).
- The grass: mostly temperate ryegrass (Lolium perenne), as in Melbourne (Beggs et al. 2015). Grass is about 17.5 % of Sydney's and 15 % of Canberra's yearly pollen; cypress-family trees make up more (about 23 % and 22.5 %) (Haberle et al. 2014).
Why SkyPollen does not show a daily level here yet
We publish a daily level only when our model passes checks set before it is run. For Sydney and Canberra two models have failed so far: one timed by warmth (Canberra came out a month late), and one built on the published season dates above, which matched the average day but never produced the very high days Canberra really has. Until a model passes, we show the season facts and today's smoke and air quality only.
Today's air
Bushfire smoke and PM2.5 forecasts for Sydney, Canberra, Newcastle, the Central Coast and Wollongong. Official counts: Sydney Pollen and Canberra Pollen. Thunderstorm asthma can follow a high grass day with a storm in late spring: see thunderstorm asthma. For asthma and hay fever advice see your doctor or Asthma Australia.
Sources
- Dhankhar A, et al. Influence of ENSO, droughts, and temperature rise on pollen and pollen seasons in Australia. Science of the Total Environment 2025;975:179326. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.179326 (CC BY 4.0)
- Beggs PJ, et al. Differences in grass pollen allergen exposure across Australia. Aust N Z J Public Health 2015;39:51-55. doi:10.1111/1753-6405.12325
- Medek DE, et al. Regional and seasonal variation in airborne grass pollen levels between cities of Australia and New Zealand. Aerobiologia 2016;32:289-302. doi:10.1007/s10453-015-9399-x
- Haberle SG, et al. The macroecology of airborne pollen in Australian and New Zealand urban areas. PLoS ONE 2014;9:e97925. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0097925