Kansas City, Missouri

Best weekend slot

Nothing doing

Verdict: Not worth it

0.3mm of rain falling.

Tomorrow morning is your first decent window.

Next mow

Tomorrow 8am–9am

Verdict: Good

barely growing — growth potential 0.13

How you feel about mowing

Sensible middle ground.

Petrol or battery. The baseline.

The next 10 days

Column height is how mowable the day is; the lighter band is the best stretch within it. The line is soil temperature at 6cm. It crosses the seeding threshold inside this forecast.

12.5°C — seeding

Soil at 6cm 34.8°C cooling to 0.0°C

Tuesday 1 September: Good. No — growing slowly, growth potential 0.20.

Tuesday 1 SeptemberConfident

No — growing slowly, growth potential 0.20.

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain in the record
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
Poor:Growth
Growing slowlygrowth potential 0.20
Poor:Temperature
Heat stress34°C
Good:Wind
Wind light12 km/h

Limiting factor:growth

Wednesday 2 September: Good. 8am–9am — barely growing — growth potential 0.13

Wednesday 2 September · 8am–9amConfident

8am–9am — barely growing — growth potential 0.13

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain in the record
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
Poor:Growth
Barely growinggrowth potential 0.13
Poor:Temperature
Cool24°C
Good:Wind
Wind light4 km/h
Sociable hours
A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial

Limiting factor:growth

Thursday 3 September: Good. No — barely growing, growth potential 0.08.

Thursday 3 SeptemberConfident

No — barely growing, growth potential 0.08.

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain in the record
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
Poor:Growth
Barely growinggrowth potential 0.08
Poor:Temperature
Heat stress26°C
Good:Wind
Wind light13 km/h

Limiting factor:growth

Friday 4 September: Good. No — barely growing, growth potential 0.05.

Friday 4 SeptemberConfident

No — barely growing, growth potential 0.05.

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain in the record
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
Poor:Growth
Barely growinggrowth potential 0.05
Poor:Temperature
Heat stress27°C
Good:Wind
Wind light13 km/h

Limiting factor:growth

Saturday 5 September: Good. No — barely growing, growth potential 0.03.

Saturday 5 SeptemberReasonably confident

No — barely growing, growth potential 0.03.

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain in the record
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
Poor:Growth
Barely growinggrowth potential 0.03
Poor:Temperature
Heat stress29°C
Good:Wind
Wind light9 km/h

Limiting factor:growth

Sunday 6 September: Good. No — barely growing, growth potential 0.04.

Sunday 6 SeptemberReasonably confident

No — barely growing, growth potential 0.04.

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain in the record
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
Poor:Growth
Barely growinggrowth potential 0.04
Poor:Temperature
Heat stress29°C
Good:Wind
Wind light10 km/h

Limiting factor:growth

Monday 7 September: Not worth it. No — 0.3mm of rain falling.

Monday 7 SeptemberReasonably confident

No — 0.3mm of rain falling.

Good:Grass wetness
Grass drydried off since a shower 3 hours ago
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.56
Good:Temperature
Cool23°C
Good:Wind
Wind light6 km/h

Limiting factor:none

Tuesday 8 September: Good. No — 0.1mm of rain falling.

Tuesday 8 SeptemberReasonably confident

No — 0.1mm of rain falling.

Marginal:Grass wetness
Grass drydried off since a shower 0 hours ago
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm3mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing steadilygrowth potential 0.47
Poor:Temperature
Temperature22°C
Good:Wind
Wind light9 km/h

Limiting factor:temperature

Wednesday 9 September: Not worth it. No — ground frozen.

Wednesday 9 SeptemberLow confidence this far out

No — ground frozen.

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryrain earlier today
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm6mm rain over the last week
Poor:Growth
Barely growinggrowth potential 0.09
Poor:Temperature
Heat stress30°C
Good:Wind
Wind light19 km/h

Limiting factor:growth

Thursday 10 September: Not worth it. No — ground frozen.

Thursday 10 SeptemberLow confidence this far out

No — ground frozen.

Good:Grass wetness
Grass drydried off since a shower 2 hours ago
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm6mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.79
Marginal:Temperature
Temperature18°C
Good:Wind
Wind light11 km/h

Limiting factor:grass wetness

Soil temperature

95°F34.8°C

at 6cm — germination depth

Cooling over the next 11 days.

Too warm to seed — the soil is heat-stressed. Wait for it to cool.

Most cool-season lawns in the northern US and Canada are bluegrass, tall fescue, or a mix of the two. We assume that, and use12.5°C as the seeding threshold.

I know what grass I have

The differences are small. Ryegrass is the quickest off the mark; bluegrass is the slowest and wants the warmest soil. Everything else sits between.

Soil temperature at 6cm for reliable germination. Sources onthe method page.
SpeciesSoil tempDays
Perennial ryegrass8°C5–10
Red / chewings fescue8–10°C10–14
Tall fescuelikely yours10–12°C10–14
Browntop bentColonial bentgrass10–12°C14–21
Smooth-stalked meadow grassKentucky bluegrasslikely yours12–13°C14–28

What this means right now

  • Warning: Too warm to seed

    Too warm to seed — the soil is heat-stressed. Wait for it to cool.

  • Warning: Heat stress

    Tuesday 1 September gets hot enough to stress the sward. Mow early or late, and raise the height.

  • Worth watching: Growth has stalled

    The lawn is hard and barely growing. Cutting it now takes more than it gives — leave it longer and wait for rain.

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Forecast from Open-Meteo, refreshed hourly. Soil temperature is modelled, not measured — how that works and where the thresholds come from.