When can I mow my lawn?
Columbus, Ohio
Estimated from your connection — this is Columbus, Ohio, which could be a few miles out.
Mowing
When you can next cut it, and the best slot this weekend.
Best weekend slot
Saturday 8am–7pm
Verdict: Prime time, >95% chance it holds
dry for over a week by then, ground firm
Next mow
Today 9am–7pm
Verdict: Prime time, >95% chance it holds
temperature — 11°C
The next 10 days
Each row is a day, morning on the left. The more solid a block, the more of the forecast runs agree you can mow. Open a day for the hour-by-hour forecast behind it.
Monday 19 October: 10 hours worth using. 9am–7pm — temperature — 11°C
Monday 19 October, hour by hour 5am 6am 7am 8am 9am 10am 11am midday 1pm 2pm 3pm 4pm 5pm 6pm 7pm 8pm Chance — — — <5% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% — — Verdict dark dark dark Forget it Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time dark dark Rainchance 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% Rainmm — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Grass dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry Ground firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm Temp 4° 4° 4° 4° 5° 9° 11° 14° 16° 18° 19° 19° 19° 18° 15° 13° Windkm/h 7 8 8 7 1 5 1 3 4 3 3 3 4 6 8 8 Daylight — — — ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ — — Growth: barely growing (growth potential 0.15). Enough to be worth cutting. Growth decides whether a cut is wanted, not how well it will go, so it is not one of the rows above and does not move the chances.Chance is the share of 82 forecast runs — the same weather models re-run from slightly different starting conditions — in which you could have mowed that hour. The rows below it are what those runs expect on average, which is why an hour can look reasonable line by line and still fall short: the chance only counts runs where everything came together at once. Hover any cell for what the runs that ruled it out actually hit.
Monday 19 October · 9am–7pmConfident
9am–7pm — temperature — 11°C
>95% prime time — the chance it holds right through, not the chance at any one hour. Every forecast run agrees.
Limiting factor:temperature
Tuesday 20 October: 11 hours worth using. 8am–7pm — temperature — 10°C
Tuesday 20 October, hour by hour 5am 6am 7am 8am 9am 10am 11am midday 1pm 2pm 3pm 4pm 5pm 6pm 7pm 8pm Chance — — — >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% — — Verdict dark dark dark Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time dark dark Rainchance 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% Rainmm — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Grass dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry Ground firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm Temp 6° 5° 5° 4° 6° 10° 13° 16° 18° 19° 20° 20° 19° 18° 16° 15° Windkm/h 7 7 7 7 3 3 2 2 4 4 6 10 10 7 8 7 Daylight — — — ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ — — Growth: growing slowly (growth potential 0.23). Enough to be worth cutting. Growth decides whether a cut is wanted, not how well it will go, so it is not one of the rows above and does not move the chances.Chance is the share of 82 forecast runs — the same weather models re-run from slightly different starting conditions — in which you could have mowed that hour. The rows below it are what those runs expect on average, which is why an hour can look reasonable line by line and still fall short: the chance only counts runs where everything came together at once. Hover any cell for what the runs that ruled it out actually hit.
Tuesday 20 October · 8am–7pmConfident
8am–7pm — temperature — 10°C
>95% prime time — the chance it holds right through, not the chance at any one hour. Every forecast run agrees.
Limiting factor:temperature
Wednesday 21 October: 11 hours worth using. 8am–7pm — dry since Friday by then, ground firm
Wednesday 21 October, hour by hour 5am 6am 7am 8am 9am 10am 11am midday 1pm 2pm 3pm 4pm 5pm 6pm 7pm 8pm Chance — — — >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% — — Verdict dark dark dark Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time dark dark Rainchance 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% Rainmm — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Grass dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry Ground firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm Temp 11° 11° 11° 11° 11° 13° 15° 17° 19° 20° 21° 21° 20° 19° 18° 17° Windkm/h 4 5 5 5 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 6 7 8 7 8 Daylight — — — ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ — — Growth: growing steadily (growth potential 0.47). Enough to be worth cutting. Growth decides whether a cut is wanted, not how well it will go, so it is not one of the rows above and does not move the chances.Chance is the share of 82 forecast runs — the same weather models re-run from slightly different starting conditions — in which you could have mowed that hour. The rows below it are what those runs expect on average, which is why an hour can look reasonable line by line and still fall short: the chance only counts runs where everything came together at once. Hover any cell for what the runs that ruled it out actually hit.
Wednesday 21 October · 8am–7pmConfident
8am–7pm — dry since Friday by then, ground firm
>95% prime time — the chance it holds right through, not the chance at any one hour. Every forecast run agrees.
Limiting factor:none
Thursday 22 October: 11 hours worth using. 8am–7pm — dry since Friday by then, ground firm
Thursday 22 October, hour by hour 5am 6am 7am 8am 9am 10am 11am midday 1pm 2pm 3pm 4pm 5pm 6pm 7pm 8pm Chance — — — >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% — — Verdict dark dark dark Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time dark dark Rainchance 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 1% 0% 1% 0% 0% Rainmm — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Grass dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry Ground firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm Temp 11° 10° 10° 9° 10° 12° 14° 16° 18° 19° 20° 20° 20° 19° 17° 16° Windkm/h 6 7 8 6 6 6 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 5 5 6 Daylight — — — ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ — — Growth: growing steadily (growth potential 0.43). Enough to be worth cutting. Growth decides whether a cut is wanted, not how well it will go, so it is not one of the rows above and does not move the chances.Chance is the share of 82 forecast runs — the same weather models re-run from slightly different starting conditions — in which you could have mowed that hour. The rows below it are what those runs expect on average, which is why an hour can look reasonable line by line and still fall short: the chance only counts runs where everything came together at once. Hover any cell for what the runs that ruled it out actually hit.
Thursday 22 October · 8am–7pmConfident
8am–7pm — dry since Friday by then, ground firm
>95% prime time — the chance it holds right through, not the chance at any one hour. Every forecast run agrees.
Limiting factor:none
Friday 23 October: 11 hours worth using. 8am–7pm — dry since Friday by then, ground firm
Friday 23 October, hour by hour 5am 6am 7am 8am 9am 10am 11am midday 1pm 2pm 3pm 4pm 5pm 6pm 7pm 8pm Chance — — — >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% — — Verdict dark dark dark Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time dark dark Rainchance 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% Rainmm — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Grass dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry Ground firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm Temp 12° 11° 11° 11° 11° 13° 15° 17° 18° 19° 20° 20° 20° 19° 17° 16° Windkm/h 5 5 5 5 6 7 8 8 8 8 8 9 9 8 6 6 Daylight — — — ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ — — Growth: growing steadily (growth potential 0.46). Enough to be worth cutting. Growth decides whether a cut is wanted, not how well it will go, so it is not one of the rows above and does not move the chances.Chance is the share of 82 forecast runs — the same weather models re-run from slightly different starting conditions — in which you could have mowed that hour. The rows below it are what those runs expect on average, which is why an hour can look reasonable line by line and still fall short: the chance only counts runs where everything came together at once. Hover any cell for what the runs that ruled it out actually hit.
Friday 23 October · 8am–7pmReasonably confident
8am–7pm — dry since Friday by then, ground firm
>95% prime time — the chance it holds right through, not the chance at any one hour. Every forecast run agrees.
Limiting factor:none
Saturday 24 October: 11 hours worth using. 8am–7pm — dry for over a week by then, ground firm
Saturday 24 October, hour by hour 5am 6am 7am 8am 9am 10am 11am midday 1pm 2pm 3pm 4pm 5pm 6pm 7pm 8pm Chance — — — >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% — — Verdict dark dark dark Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time dark dark Rainchance 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% Rainmm — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Grass dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry Ground firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm Temp 11° 10° 10° 10° 11° 13° 15° 17° 18° 20° 20° 20° 20° 19° 18° 16° Windkm/h 8 8 7 7 8 10 12 12 12 11 12 13 13 12 11 11 Daylight — — — ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ — — Growth: growing steadily (growth potential 0.45). Enough to be worth cutting. Growth decides whether a cut is wanted, not how well it will go, so it is not one of the rows above and does not move the chances.Chance is the share of 82 forecast runs — the same weather models re-run from slightly different starting conditions — in which you could have mowed that hour. The rows below it are what those runs expect on average, which is why an hour can look reasonable line by line and still fall short: the chance only counts runs where everything came together at once. Hover any cell for what the runs that ruled it out actually hit.
Saturday 24 October · 8am–7pmReasonably confident
8am–7pm — dry for over a week by then, ground firm
>95% prime time — the chance it holds right through, not the chance at any one hour. Every forecast run agrees.
Limiting factor:none
Sunday 25 October: 11 hours worth using. 8am–7pm — dry for over a week by then, ground firm
Sunday 25 October, hour by hour 5am 6am 7am 8am 9am 10am 11am midday 1pm 2pm 3pm 4pm 5pm 6pm 7pm 8pm Chance — — — >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% — — Verdict dark dark dark Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time dark dark Rainchance 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% Rainmm — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Grass dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry Ground firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm Temp 11° 10° 10° 10° 11° 12° 14° 16° 18° 19° 19° 20° 20° 19° 18° 17° Windkm/h 10 10 9 9 9 10 11 11 12 12 11 10 10 9 8 8 Daylight — — — ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ — — Growth: growing steadily (growth potential 0.43). Enough to be worth cutting. Growth decides whether a cut is wanted, not how well it will go, so it is not one of the rows above and does not move the chances.Chance is the share of 82 forecast runs — the same weather models re-run from slightly different starting conditions — in which you could have mowed that hour. The rows below it are what those runs expect on average, which is why an hour can look reasonable line by line and still fall short: the chance only counts runs where everything came together at once. Hover any cell for what the runs that ruled it out actually hit.
Sunday 25 October · 8am–7pmReasonably confident
8am–7pm — dry for over a week by then, ground firm
>95% prime time — the chance it holds right through, not the chance at any one hour. Every forecast run agrees.
Limiting factor:none
Monday 26 October: 11 hours worth using. 8am–7pm — dry for over a week by then, ground firm
Monday 26 October, hour by hour 5am 6am 7am 8am 9am 10am 11am midday 1pm 2pm 3pm 4pm 5pm 6pm 7pm 8pm Chance — — — >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% — — Verdict dark dark dark Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time dark dark Rainchance 1% 0% 0% 0% 0% 1% 0% 0% 1% 3% 1% 0% 0% 1% 4% 1% Rainmm — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Grass dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry Ground firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm Temp 15° 14° 13° 13° 14° 15° 17° 18° 20° 21° 21° 21° 21° 20° 19° 18° Windkm/h 8 8 8 8 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 9 9 8 6 6 Daylight — — — ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ — — Growth: growing well (growth potential 0.58). Enough to be worth cutting. Growth decides whether a cut is wanted, not how well it will go, so it is not one of the rows above and does not move the chances.Chance is the share of 82 forecast runs — the same weather models re-run from slightly different starting conditions — in which you could have mowed that hour. The rows below it are what those runs expect on average, which is why an hour can look reasonable line by line and still fall short: the chance only counts runs where everything came together at once. Hover any cell for what the runs that ruled it out actually hit.
Monday 26 October · 8am–7pmReasonably confident
8am–7pm — dry for over a week by then, ground firm
95% prime time — the chance it holds right through, not the chance at any one hour. A handful of runs hit rain.
Limiting factor:none
Tuesday 27 October: 11 hours worth using. 8am–7pm — dry for over a week by then, ground firm
Tuesday 27 October, hour by hour 5am 6am 7am 8am 9am 10am 11am midday 1pm 2pm 3pm 4pm 5pm 6pm 7pm 8pm Chance — — — >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% >95% — — Verdict dark dark dark Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time dark dark Rainchance 1% 0% 1% 0% 3% 3% 1% 3% 0% 3% 1% 4% 0% 3% 5% 0% Rainmm — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Grass dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry Ground firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm Temp 16° 15° 15° 15° 16° 17° 18° 19° 21° 22° 22° 22° 22° 21° 20° 19° Windkm/h 8 9 10 10 11 13 14 15 16 16 15 14 13 12 10 9 Daylight — — — ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ — — Growth: growing well (growth potential 0.64). Enough to be worth cutting. Growth decides whether a cut is wanted, not how well it will go, so it is not one of the rows above and does not move the chances.Chance is the share of 82 forecast runs — the same weather models re-run from slightly different starting conditions — in which you could have mowed that hour. The rows below it are what those runs expect on average, which is why an hour can look reasonable line by line and still fall short: the chance only counts runs where everything came together at once. Hover any cell for what the runs that ruled it out actually hit.
Tuesday 27 October · 8am–7pmLow confidence this far out
8am–7pm — dry for over a week by then, ground firm
90% prime time — the chance it holds right through, not the chance at any one hour. About 1 run in 6 hit rain.
Limiting factor:none
Wednesday 28 October: 11 hours worth using. 8am–7pm — dry again after a shower, ground firm
Wednesday 28 October, hour by hour 5am 6am 7am 8am 9am 10am 11am midday 1pm 2pm 3pm 4pm 5pm 6pm 7pm 8pm Chance — — — 90% 95% 95% 95% 95% 95% 95% 95% 90% 95% 95% — — Verdict dark dark dark Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time Prime time dark Already gone Rainchance 3% 1% 4% 0% 1% 4% 1% 0% 1% 1% 1% 1% 1% 3% 0% · Rainmm — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — · Grass dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry · Ground firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm firm · Temp 13° 12° 12° 11° 10° 9° 8° 7° 6° 6° 7° 8° 9° 9° 8° · Windkm/h 11 13 16 19 20 20 20 19 19 17 15 13 12 12 13 · Daylight — — — ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ — · Growth: growing slowly (growth potential 0.23). Enough to be worth cutting. Growth decides whether a cut is wanted, not how well it will go, so it is not one of the rows above and does not move the chances.Chance is the share of 82 forecast runs — the same weather models re-run from slightly different starting conditions — in which you could have mowed that hour. The rows below it are what those runs expect on average, which is why an hour can look reasonable line by line and still fall short: the chance only counts runs where everything came together at once. Hover any cell for what the runs that ruled it out actually hit.
Wednesday 28 October · 8am–7pmLow confidence this far out
8am–7pm — dry again after a shower, ground firm
90% prime time — the chance it holds right through, not the chance at any one hour. About 1 run in 10 found the grass too wet.
Limiting factor:none
good to go touch and go dark, frost or snow already goneFainter means fewer forecast runs agree.
Growth
How fast it is growing, and when it will need cutting again.
15%Barely growing
Of the fastest this grass could grow. The turf-industry measure, from today's temperature and day length.
The lawn is barely growing, so it does not need cutting. Leave it — taking leaf off a sward that cannot replace it costs more than it gives.
Held back by both temperature and short days — 11.0 hours of daylight at 10°C.
- Over the next 10 days
- about 14mm of leaf
- Next cut due
- not within the next ten days
This only knows temperature and day length. Feeding, watering, shade and cutting height all move it, so treat it as a rough guide.
Worked out from the PACE Turf growth potential model and day length —how and why.
Seeding
Soil temperature at germination depth, and when the window opens.
Soil temperature in Columbus, Ohio
47°F8.5°C
at 6cm — germination depth
Too cold to seed — 8.5°C at 6cm and not warming.
Cooling over the next 10 days.
Cross-checks against an independent estimate from air temperature (11.5°C), which agrees to within 0.1°C.
Most cool-season lawns in the northern US and Canada are bluegrass, tall fescue, or a mix of the two. We assume that, and use 12.5°C as the seeding threshold.
Thresholds for every species
The differences are small. Ryegrass is the quickest off the mark; bluegrass is the slowest and wants the warmest soil. Everything else sits between.
| Species | Soil needed | Days to sprout |
|---|---|---|
| Perennial ryegrass | 8°C | 5–10 |
| Red / chewings fescue | 8–10°C | 10–14 |
| Tall fescuelikely yours | 10–12°C | 10–14 |
| Browntop bentColonial bentgrass | 10–12°C | 14–21 |
| Smooth-stalked meadow grassKentucky bluegrasslikely yours | 12–13°C | 14–28 |
Feeding
Why timing decides whether a feed does anything at all.
Coming in the app
Grass takes up nitrogen when it is growing. Feed a lawn that has stopped and most of it washes past the roots — which is why timing beats product choice.
Right now this lawn is not growing fast enough to make much use of a feed.
The app will work out the actual feeding windows for your lawn — along with weed control, scarifying and moss treatment — and tell you when they open without you having to check.
Columbus, Ohio in detail
Soil temperature in Columbus, Ohio is currently 8.5°C at 6cm, and falling about 5.2°C over the next 10 days. That depth matters because it is where grass seed sits and where roots start working, and it lags air temperature by days — which is why a warm afternoon here tells you very little on its own.
Lawns in this area are typically Kentucky bluegrass with tall fescue, the usual mix for cool-season lawns at this latitude. That blend needs the soil to hold above 12.5°C before seed germinates reliably. Too cold to seed — 8.5°C at 6cm and not warming.
9 of the next 10 days are good mowing days. The best weekend slot right now is Saturday 8am–7pm, on the basis that dry for over a week by then, ground firm.
The next recommended window in Columbus opens at 9am on Monday 19 October, because anything earlier is the hour your neighbours will remember. Underfoot, the ground reads as firm after 25mm rain over the last week, medium (loam) soil.
Save this lawn and we will email you when the windows open.
We already send you the forecast email? Use the same address.
Chances counted across 82 forecast runs from NCEP GEFS, 25km and ECMWF IFS ensemble, 25km. Forecast from Open-Meteo, refreshed through the day. Soil temperature is modelled, not measured — how that works and where the thresholds come from.
When to mow, and what the answer rests on
Mowdar answers one question — when can I mow — for your lawn, this week. Put in a postcode and the forecast for that spot says when the grass is growing again, which slot at the weekend suits it best, and what the soil temperature lets you do while you are out there. Free, no account, and the answer is in the page itself rather than behind a login.
The forecast replaces the calendar because grass grows on warmth, not on dates: soil and air temperature together decide how fast the sward comes back after a cut and how much a feed or a sowing of seed will take. Mowdar reads the forecast for your location, converts it into growth for the days ahead, and weighs the reasons to leave the mower in the shed — frost, a waterlogged surface, a week about to turn. Where the forecast cannot support an answer it says so instead of guessing. How the model works has the detail, and the soil temperature map shows where your area sits today.