Lincoln, Nebraska
Best weekend slot
Saturday 8am–9am
Verdict: Good
barely growing — growth potential 0.12
Next mow
Tomorrow 8am–10am
Verdict: Good
barely growing — growth potential 0.14
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 29.2°C cooling to 0.0°C
Tuesday 1 September: Not worth it. No — growing slowly, growth potential 0.27.
Tuesday 1 SeptemberConfident
No — growing slowly, growth potential 0.27.
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryno rain in over a week
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
- Marginal:Growth
- Growing slowlygrowth potential 0.27
- Poor:Temperature
- Heat stress29°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light10 km/h
Limiting factor:growth
Wednesday 2 September: Good. 8am–10am — barely growing — growth potential 0.14
Wednesday 2 September · 8am–10amConfident
8am–10am — barely growing — growth potential 0.14
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryno rain in over a week
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
- Poor:Growth
- Barely growinggrowth potential 0.14
- Poor:Temperature
- Cool25°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light8 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 0.07.
Thursday 3 SeptemberConfident
No — barely growing, growth potential 0.07.
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass drydried off since a shower 4 hours ago
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
- Poor:Growth
- Barely growinggrowth potential 0.07
- Poor:Temperature
- Heat stress26°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light21 km/h
Limiting factor:growth
Friday 4 September: Good. No — 0.2mm of rain falling.
Friday 4 SeptemberConfident
No — 0.2mm of rain falling.
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryrain earlier today
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm4mm rain over the last week
- Poor:Growth
- Barely growinggrowth potential 0.05
- Poor:Temperature
- Cool24°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light21 km/h
Limiting factor:growth
Saturday 5 September: Good. 8am–9am — barely growing — growth potential 0.12
Saturday 5 September · 8am–9amReasonably confident
8am–9am — barely growing — growth potential 0.12
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryrain earlier today
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm4mm rain over the last week
- Poor:Growth
- Barely growinggrowth potential 0.12
- Poor:Temperature
- Cool25°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light7 km/h
- Sociable hours
- A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial
Limiting factor:growth
Sunday 6 September: Good. No — barely growing, growth potential 0.10.
Sunday 6 SeptemberReasonably confident
No — barely growing, growth potential 0.10.
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass drydried off since a shower 2 hours ago
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm5mm rain over the last week
- Poor:Growth
- Barely growinggrowth potential 0.10
- Poor:Temperature
- Cool23°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light3 km/h
Limiting factor:growth
Monday 7 September: Good. No — 0.3mm of rain falling.
Monday 7 SeptemberReasonably confident
No — 0.3mm of rain falling.
- Marginal:Grass wetness
- Grass drydried off since a shower 3 hours ago
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm6mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing steadilygrowth potential 0.45
- Poor:Temperature
- Temperature21°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light12 km/h
Limiting factor:temperature
Tuesday 8 September: Good. 2pm–3pm — grass damp — rain earlier today
Tuesday 8 September · 2pm–3pmReasonably confident
2pm–3pm — grass damp — rain earlier today
- Marginal:Grass wetness
- Grass dryrain earlier today
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm9mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.71
- Marginal:Temperature
- Temperature21°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light11 km/h
- Sociable hours
- Fine by the neighboursstarts once the dew has burnt off
Limiting factor:grass wetness
Wednesday 9 September: Not worth it. No — ground frozen.
Wednesday 9 SeptemberLow confidence this far out
No — ground frozen.
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass drydried off since a shower 0 hours ago
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm12mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing steadilygrowth potential 0.48
- Poor:Temperature
- Temperature22°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light14 km/h
Limiting factor:grass wetness
Thursday 10 September: Not worth it. No — ground frozen.
Thursday 10 SeptemberLow confidence this far out
No — ground frozen.
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryrain earlier today
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm14mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.95
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature15°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light12 km/h
Limiting factor:none
Soil temperature
88°F31.0°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.
| Species | Soil temp | Days |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
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.
Forecast from Open-Meteo, refreshed hourly. Soil temperature is modelled, not measured — how that works and where the thresholds come from.