Madison, WI Pollen Count
Madison, WI · Last updated Friday, November 6, 2026
This page shows the most recent reading available for Madison — from Friday, November 6, 2026 (1 day ago) — not today's reading.
Pollen Overview
Today's overall pollen level and the dominant type (trees, weeds, grass, or mold).
Total Pollen Index
The combined pollen level across all types (0–100).
Madison, WI
Weeds Index
How active weeds pollen is today (0–100).
Madison, WI
Pollen Types
Pick a pollen subtype to update the species forecast
5-Day Madison Overall Pollen Forecast
Bars are colored by severity (Low/Moderate/High).
This reading is the forecast point for Madison — 2 nearby places use the same point; Madison is 1.7 km from it.
Pollen count Madison residents check each morning
The Madison pollen count today is 33 (Low). The main driver is Ragweed, with weed pollen at 43 today. That total sits on a narrow base: weed pollen is 43 while tree pollen is just 0.6 and grass pollen 0.6. Plant-by-plant detail for Madison, WI follows, along with the outlook for the days ahead. Pollen Atlas updated this count on Friday, November 6, 2026.
A Low band on the Pollen Atlas index means the Total Pollen Index has stayed in the lower part of the 0–100 scale. Readings in this band are built from low individual category values rather than from one large spike, and the category split above matters more than the headline number: a low total can still contain one category, such as weed pollen or mold, reading noticeably higher than the rest, which is why the split is printed on every Madison page.
Fall is ragweed season across most of the United States: ragweed plants release pollen from late summer into autumn, and weed pollen is typically the last major outdoor pollen category to fade as the weather cools. That pattern is why an autumn total is so often weed-led even when the headline number is low — tree and grass pollen have usually receded by then, leaving weed pollen, and on damp days mold, to make up most of what the index records. In the Plains and around the Great Lakes, ragweed is a familiar late-season plant of open ground, field edges and disturbed soil, which is why it so often leads inland autumn readings.
To see whether today’s pollen level holds, check the 5-day Madison pollen forecast below — it is currently holding, with Friday the highest day in the window.
This is the pollen count Madison residents check each morning, built from the day’s tree, grass, weed and mold readings.
What is the Madison pollen count today?
The Madison pollen count today is 33 out of 100 (Low) on the Pollen Atlas Total Pollen Index, driven mainly by Ragweed.
Short answer for anyone searching pollen count today Madison: this page is updated every morning with the day’s modelled reading.
Madison allergies today
Madison allergies today are set by the same reading as the pollen count above: the Total Pollen Index is 33 (Low), driven mainly by Ragweed. When people ask about Madison allergies, this is the number that answers them — one daily index built from today’s tree, grass, weed and mold readings for Madison.
Allergies in Madison follow the Wisconsin calendar set out below — the chapters, the plants behind them, and the 5-day forecast on this page show whether today is typical for the season or an exception to it. If you are checking allergies today in Madison before heading outdoors, the split at the top of this page is the part to read: it shows which pollen is doing the work today, not just how high the total sits.
Read the five-day table on this page as the Madison allergy forecast: today reads 33 (Low), and the day-by-day outlook shows whether Madison allergies are set to ease or build across the week — the days to plan outdoor time around are the ones where the index steps down, not just today.
In practice, the allergy count Madison today records is this same combined reading — tree, grass, weed and mold in one index.
The Madison allergy count today is 33 (Low) — the same Total Pollen Index as the pollen count above, in one combined reading.
Pollen count today Madison: the 5-day forecast
| Day | Total Pollen Index | Band |
|---|---|---|
| Friday, November 6 | 33 | Low |
| Saturday, November 7 | 32 | Low |
| Sunday, November 8 | 26 | Low |
| Monday, November 9 | 19 | Low |
| Tuesday, November 10 | 13 | Low |
Pollen Atlas forecasts Madison’s pollen count to peak on Friday at 33 (Low) over the next 5 days.
Pollen by type in Madison
What is driving Madison’s pollen today
The shape of today’s 33 (Low) is set by weed pollen at 43 (Moderate on its own scale) — about 97% of the four category readings added together, 42.4 points clear of the next category, tree pollen at 0.6. A weed-led total is the classic late-year shape: tree and grass pollen have usually receded, leaving weed pollen — and on damp days mold — to make up most of what the index records. Weed pollen leading in November runs against the usual calendar — the Wisconsin weed chapter runs August to October — so today’s lead is the model outranking the pattern, and this page reports the modelled reading first.
Plant-level detail is not in today’s feed for Madison, so the drivers have to be read from the category split above. The Wisconsin guide’s account of Wisconsin names oak in the south and birch in the north, and a September ragweed peak over the farmland — the pollens behind readings of this shape in this state — and the split shows how much of today’s total each category is actually carrying.
Across the five-day window the Total Pollen Index runs from 13 to 33, never changing band. Today’s 33 sits 8 points above the window’s average of 24.6 — a moving window, worth reading day by day rather than from the average.
Plants affecting Madison now
Detailed plant-by-plant readings for Madison were not returned in today\u2019s source data, so this section summarises the pollen types the index above is built from instead of listing individual plants.
Tree pollen is one of the categories with a non-zero reading today, at 0.6 (Low).
Grass pollen is one of the categories with a non-zero reading today, at 0.6 (Low).
Weed pollen is one of the categories with a non-zero reading today, at 43 (Moderate).
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\u2019s measurements.
Plant detail returns here automatically on any day the source data includes it.
Every pollen type, with photos and seasons: the pollen directory.
Madison pollen through the year
Chapter by chapter, the Madison pollen year runs like this:
- Trees run from March into May, later near the big lakes.
- Grasses hold from May through July.
- Ragweed builds from mid-August, peaks in September, and ends at the first frost.
- Mold builds through the humid summer and fills the gaps between chapters.
The Wisconsin allergy season guide names oak in the south and birch in the north, and a September ragweed peak over the farmland. Lake Michigan moderates Wisconsin’s eastern shore, delaying spring near the water, while the Northwoods run the state’s latest, shortest season. Kentucky bluegrass — the state’s default lawn and pasture grass — drives a May-to-July grass season that bridges spring and fall.
November falls between the main chapters of the Wisconsin pollen year — the tail of one and the approach of the next — so the calendar alone explains little today, and the modelled split above carries the story. Between them, the three chapters cover 8 months of the Wisconsin year, March to October — a compressed season, which is why its chapters arrive in quick succession. The full calendar is set out in the Wisconsin allergy season guide.
How to read this index
Pollen Atlas reports the Madison pollen count on a Total Pollen Index from 0 to 100, built from separate tree, grass and weed readings. The total is a summary, not an average of the three: a single strong category can lift it, and three quiet categories can hold it down even in a month when Madison, WI pollen is usually more active. Index values are a modelled pollen risk index computed by Pollen Atlas from open weather, vegetation and phenology data, calibrated against CDC/NAB season data, with plant detail by the Google Pollen API. The index is a modelled 0–100 scale, not a measured count, and figures update through the day, so a morning and an evening visit to this page can legitimately show different numbers.
Madison in today’s national picture
At 33 (Low), Madison ranks joint 11598th of the 90896 cities Pollen Atlas tracks today — in the middle of the national table. The highest reading in the country today is Serpa, Portugal at 53, and the lowest is Galiakberovo, Russia at 5. The whole table spans 48 points today — a wide-open day, when the top and bottom of the table are effectively in different seasons.
Around Madison: Shorewood Hills, WI (1 miles away) reads 33 (Low); Maple Bluff, WI (4 miles away) reads 33 (Low); Middleton, WI (4 miles away) reads 30 (Low). Madison reads exactly level with its nearest tracked neighbour today. Across Wisconsin’s 805 tracked cities, today runs from 5 in Wausau to 42 in DeForest.
Pollen totals are population numbers; symptoms are personal. The same reading can leave one Madison resident untouched and floor another, depending on which pollens they are sensitised to. If this pattern finds you every season, allergists in Madison, WI can test whether tree, grass, weed or mold is the category that matters for you — the four readings at the top of this page are the starting point for that conversation.
Madison in its local area
Madison is a city in Dane County, Wisconsin. Its population is 275,568 (ACS 2023).
Madison anchors the forecast-point group of 2 places that share this reading. Within the group, Madison ranks joint 1st; across Wisconsin’s 805 tracked cities, it ranks joint 38th today.
Like every Pollen Atlas city page, the Madison, WI pollen count is refreshed each morning.
Nearby cities
- Shorewood Hills pollen count (1 miles away)
- Maple Bluff pollen count (4 miles away)
- Middleton pollen count (4 miles away)
- Monona pollen count (5 miles away)
- Waunakee pollen count (7 miles away)
- Fitchburg pollen count (7 miles away)
From Pollen Atlas News
See how Madison ranks in today's pollen count rankings — the worst cities for allergies today
See Madison on the US pollen map
Pollen indexes: a modelled pollen risk index computed by Pollen Atlas from open weather, vegetation and phenology data, calibrated against CDC/NAB season data. Plant detail: Google Pollen API. Index values are modelled, not measured counts. Sources: CDC/NAB; USA-NPN; GBIF (CC BY); ESA WorldCover (CC BY 4.0).