Ragweed Pollen Count in West Des Moines, IA — Today

Pollen by type in West Des Moines

• West Des Moines tree pollen count
• West Des Moines grass pollen count
• West Des Moines pollen count

What is the ragweed pollen count in West Des Moines today?

The West Des Moines ragweed pollen index today is 28 (Low) on Pollen Atlas’s modelled 0–100 scale. Low

Modelled pollen risk index — not a measured count.

Ragweed pollen is the dominant allergen in West Des Moines today. See the full West Des Moines pollen count for the overall index and every type together.

West Des Moines is a city spanning Polk County, Dallas County, Warren County and Madison County in Iowa. Its population is 69,893 (ACS 2023).

West Des Moines Ragweed Pollen Count: 5-Day Forecast

Pollen Atlas models the daily detail as an overall index: day-by-day splits by individual pollen type are not part of the modelled data, so this table shows West Des Moines’s overall trend across the week. Today’s ragweed pollen reading is the headline above.

Species driving West Des Moines’s ragweed pollen

Species-level counts are not part of the modelled data Pollen Atlas publishes — the modelled index is reported per pollen type, not per species — so this section gives the type summary: ragweed pollen reads 28 (Low) today. The plant-by-plant detail that is available, from the Google Pollen API, is in the next section.

How to read this: the “ragweed” figure on this site is the modelled weed pollen index — the weed group (ragweed + mugwort) — printed under the ragweed name the rankings use.

Plants affecting West Des Moines now — ragweed pollen

Detailed plant-by-plant readings for the ragweed pollen category were not returned in today’s source data for West Des Moines. The type summary stands: ragweed pollen reads 28 (Low) today.

In the Midwest & Great Lakes pattern, the plants that typically shape this city’s year are spring trees, late-spring and summer grasses, and late-summer and autumn ragweed — named here as regional context only, not as today’s readings.

Plant detail returns here automatically on any day the feed includes it.

What this ragweed pollen level means

Low risk. Keep windows open; consider allergy meds only if sensitive.

Enjoy outdoor activities.

Ragweed builds from mid-August, peaks in September, and ends at the first frost. This month sits outside the usual ragweed pollen window for the Midwest & Great Lakes pattern, so today’s ragweed pollen reading is the modelled value outranking the calendar — this page reports the modelled reading first. The Iowa allergy season guide singles out ragweed, the state’s dominant allergen, over a maple, oak and hickory spring.

West Des Moines allergies today

West Des Moines allergies today are set by the same reading as the West Des Moines pollen count today: the Total Pollen Index is 22 (Low), and the ragweed pollen index on this page is 28 (Low) of it. When people ask about West Des Moines allergies, this is the number that answers them — one daily modelled index built from today’s tree, grass and weed index values for West Des Moines.

Allergies in West Des Moines follow the Iowa calendar set out on the full West Des Moines page — the chapters, the plants behind them, and the 5-day forecast show whether today is typical for the season or an exception to it. If you are checking allergies today in West Des Moines before heading outdoors, the ragweed pollen split on this page is the part to read: it shows whether this pollen type is doing the work today, not just how high the total sits.

Read the five-day overall trend above as the West Des Moines allergy forecast for the ragweed pollen season: it shows whether West Des Moines allergies are set to ease or build across the week, day by day — the days to plan outdoor time around are the ones where the overall index steps down, not just today.