BT31, Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon
Mowing
When you can next cut it, and the best slot this weekend.
Current conditions · 2pm, this hour
Prime time90% chance
Of the runs that ruled this hour out: 7% hit rain.
- Grass
- dry
- Ground
- firm
- Rain
- 7% chance
- Temp
- 12°
- Wind
- 14 km/h
Forecast for this hour, not a measurement.
Best weekend slot
Nothing doing
Verdict: Not worth it
Nothing to cut — the grass is barely growing (growth potential 0.05).
Right now is your first decent window.
Next mow
Now until 7pm
Verdict: Prime time, >95% chance at its best hour
ground firm — 7mm rain over the last week, medium (loam) soil
Forecast notices · next 3 days
- Warning: Frost. Thursday has frosted hours. Stay off it until it lifts — walking on frosted grass bruises it, and mowing it ruptures the leaf. More
- Worth watching: Ground too soft. Tomorrow: 6mm of rain over the past week has left the ground too soft to mow. A mower will mark it, and a ride-on will rut it. More
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.
Tuesday 20 October: 5 hours worth using. Now until 7pm — ground firm — 7mm rain over the last week, medium (loam) soil
Tuesday 20 October, hour by hour 5am 6am 7am 8am 9am 10am 11am midday 1pm 2pm 3pm 4pm 5pm 6pm 7pm 8pm Chance — — — — — — — — — 90% >95% 75% 80% 75% — — Verdict Already gone Already gone Already gone Already gone Already gone Already gone Already gone Already gone Already gone Prime time Prime time Good to go Good to go Good to go dark dark Rainchance · · · · · · · · · 7% 4% 23% 19% 20% 13% 3% Rainmm · · · · · · · · · — — 0.1 — 0.1 — — Grass · · · · · · · · · dry dry dry dry damp damp damp Ground · · · · · · · · · firm firm firm firm firm firm firm Temp · · · · · · · · · 12° 12° 11° 11° 10° 10° 9° Windkm/h · · · · · · · · · 14 14 13 14 13 7 7 Daylight · · · · · · · · · ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ — — Growth: barely growing (growth potential 0.12). 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.
Tuesday 20 October · now until 7pmReasonably confident
Now until 7pm — ground firm — 7mm rain over the last week, medium (loam) soil
>95% prime time at its best hour, 60% that all 5 hours stay mowable. Every forecast run agrees.
Limiting factor:ground firmness
Wednesday 21 October: nothing to cut. Nothing to cut — the grass is barely growing (growth potential 0.04).
Loading the hour-by-hour forecast…
Growth: barely growing (growth potential 0.04). Not enough to be worth cutting, which is why no hour is recommended today whatever the weather does.
Wednesday 21 OctoberConfident
Nothing to cut — the grass is barely growing (growth potential 0.04).
<5% nothing to cut at its best hour. Almost every run found the grass barely growing.
Nothing to cut. The odds below describe the weather only — growth decides whether a cut is wanted, and it is judged separately.
Limiting factor:growth
Thursday 22 October: nothing to cut. Nothing to cut — the grass is barely growing (growth potential 0.03). Conditions themselves are fine.
Loading the hour-by-hour forecast…
Growth: barely growing (growth potential 0.03). Not enough to be worth cutting, which is why no hour is recommended today whatever the weather does.
Thursday 22 OctoberReasonably confident
Nothing to cut — the grass is barely growing (growth potential 0.03). Conditions themselves are fine.
75% nothing to cut at its best hour. About 1 run in 4 found the grass barely growing.
Nothing to cut. The odds below describe the weather only — growth decides whether a cut is wanted, and it is judged separately.
Limiting factor:growth
Friday 23 October: nothing to cut. Nothing to cut — the grass is barely growing (growth potential 0.03).
Loading the hour-by-hour forecast…
Growth: barely growing (growth potential 0.03). Not enough to be worth cutting, which is why no hour is recommended today whatever the weather does.
Friday 23 OctoberConfident
Nothing to cut — the grass is barely growing (growth potential 0.03).
<5% nothing to cut at its best hour. Almost every run found the grass barely growing.
Nothing to cut. The odds below describe the weather only — growth decides whether a cut is wanted, and it is judged separately.
Limiting factor:growth
Saturday 24 October: nothing to cut. Nothing to cut — the grass is barely growing (growth potential 0.05).
Loading the hour-by-hour forecast…
Growth: barely growing (growth potential 0.05). Not enough to be worth cutting, which is why no hour is recommended today whatever the weather does.
Saturday 24 OctoberReasonably confident
Nothing to cut — the grass is barely growing (growth potential 0.05).
5% nothing to cut at its best hour. Almost every run found the grass barely growing.
Nothing to cut. The odds below describe the weather only — growth decides whether a cut is wanted, and it is judged separately.
Limiting factor:growth
Sunday 25 October: nothing to cut. Nothing to cut — the grass is barely growing (growth potential 0.08). Conditions themselves are fine.
Loading the hour-by-hour forecast…
Growth: barely growing (growth potential 0.08). Not enough to be worth cutting, which is why no hour is recommended today whatever the weather does.
Sunday 25 OctoberReasonably confident
Nothing to cut — the grass is barely growing (growth potential 0.08). Conditions themselves are fine.
10% nothing to cut at its best hour. Almost every run found the grass barely growing.
Nothing to cut. The odds below describe the weather only — growth decides whether a cut is wanted, and it is judged separately.
Limiting factor:growth
Monday 26 October: no hours worth using. No — 0.1mm of rain falling.
Loading the hour-by-hour forecast…
Growth: growing slowly (growth potential 0.30). 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.
Monday 26 OctoberReasonably confident
No — 0.1mm of rain falling.
10% forget it at its best hour. Almost every run found the grass too wet.
Limiting factor:grass wetness
Tuesday 27 October: no hours worth using. No — 0.1mm of rain falling.
Loading the hour-by-hour forecast…
Growth: barely growing (growth potential 0.16). 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.
Tuesday 27 OctoberReasonably confident
No — 0.1mm of rain falling.
<5% forget it at its best hour. Almost every run found the grass too wet.
Limiting factor:grass wetness
Wednesday 28 October: nothing to cut. Nothing to cut — the grass is barely growing (growth potential 0.07).
Loading the hour-by-hour forecast…
Growth: barely growing (growth potential 0.07). Not enough to be worth cutting, which is why no hour is recommended today whatever the weather does.
Wednesday 28 OctoberLow confidence this far out
Nothing to cut — the grass is barely growing (growth potential 0.07).
20% nothing to cut at its best hour. About 2 runs in 3 found the grass barely growing.
Nothing to cut. The odds below describe the weather only — growth decides whether a cut is wanted, and it is judged separately.
Limiting factor:growth
Thursday 29 October: nothing to cut. Nothing to cut — the grass is barely growing (growth potential 0.10). Conditions themselves are fine.
Loading the hour-by-hour forecast…
Growth: barely growing (growth potential 0.10). Not enough to be worth cutting, which is why no hour is recommended today whatever the weather does.
Thursday 29 OctoberLow confidence this far out
Nothing to cut — the grass is barely growing (growth potential 0.10). Conditions themselves are fine.
25% nothing to cut at its best hour. About 2 runs in 3 found the grass barely growing.
Nothing to cut. The odds below describe the weather only — growth decides whether a cut is wanted, and it is judged separately.
Limiting factor:growth
good to go touch and go dark, frost or snow already goneFainter means fewer forecast runs agree.
Chance is the share of 94 forecast runs — the same weather models re-run from slightly different starting conditions — in which you could have mowed that hour. The rows under it in each day's table 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 hit.
Growth
How fast it is growing, and when it will need cutting again.
12%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 — 10.2 hours of daylight at 10°C.
- Over the next 10 days
- about 3mm 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 BT31, Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon
10.8°C51°F
at 6cm — germination depth
Soil is warming — it should cross 9°C in about 9 days, though the forecast doesn't run far enough to confirm it holds.
Holding steady over the next 10 days.
Cross-checks against an independent estimate from air temperature (8.1°C), which agrees to within 0.7°C.
Almost every UK and Irish lawn is a ryegrass and fescue mix, whether it was sown or turfed. We assume that, and use 9°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 ryegrasslikely yours | 8°C | 5–10 |
| Red / chewings fescuelikely yours | 8–10°C | 10–14 |
| Tall fescue | 10–12°C | 10–14 |
| Browntop bentColonial bentgrass | 10–12°C | 14–21 |
| Smooth-stalked meadow grassKentucky bluegrass | 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.
BT31, Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon in detail
Soil temperature in BT31, Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon is currently 10.8°C at 6cm, and barely moving. 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 perennial ryegrass with fescue, which is what most lawns round here are sown with. That blend needs the soil to hold above 9°C before seed germinates reliably. Soil is warming — it should cross 9°C in about 9 days, though the forecast doesn't run far enough to confirm it holds.
1 of the next 10 days look workable. As for the weekend: nothing doing. Nothing to cut — the grass is barely growing (growth potential 0.05).
The next recommended window in BT31 opens at 2pm on Tuesday 20 October, and holds while conditions stay put. Underfoot, the ground reads as firm after 7mm rain over the last week, medium (loam) soil.
There is frost in the forecast for BT31, Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon: Thursday 22 October has hours cold enough to freeze the leaf. Stay off the grass until it lifts — mowing frosted turf ruptures the cells and the damage shows for weeks.
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 94 forecast runs from MOGREPS-UK, 2km and ICON-EU-EPS, 7km 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.