Minneapolis, Minnesota

Best weekend slot

Saturday 8am–11am

Verdict: Good

growing slowly — growth potential 0.22

Next mow

Tomorrow 8am–3pm

Verdict: Good

no rain since Saturday, ground firm

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 25.2°C cooling to 0.0°C

Tuesday 1 September: Not worth it. No — nothing quite good enough today.

Tuesday 1 SeptemberConfident

No — nothing quite good enough today.

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain since Saturday
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm29mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.76
Good:Temperature
Temperature21°C
Good:Wind
Wind light6 km/h

Limiting factor:none

Wednesday 2 September: Good. 8am–3pm — no rain since Saturday, ground firm

Wednesday 2 September · 8am–3pmConfident

8am–3pm — no rain since Saturday, ground firm

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain since Saturday
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm29mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.84
Marginal:Temperature
Temperature18°C
Good:Wind
Wind light6 km/h
Sociable hours
A bit early or late, but finestarts once the dew has burnt off

Limiting factor:none

Thursday 3 September: Good. 8am–midday — no rain since Saturday, ground firm

Thursday 3 September · 8am–middayConfident

8am–midday — no rain since Saturday, ground firm

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain since Saturday
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm29mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing steadilygrowth potential 0.47
Poor:Temperature
Temperature21°C
Good:Wind
Wind light8 km/h
Sociable hours
A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial

Limiting factor:none

Friday 4 September: Good. 8am–11am — growing slowly — growth potential 0.28

Friday 4 September · 8am–11amConfident

8am–11am — growing slowly — growth potential 0.28

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryrain earlier today
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm29mm rain over the last week
Marginal:Growth
Growing slowlygrowth potential 0.28
Poor:Temperature
Temperature23°C
Good:Wind
Wind light1 km/h
Sociable hours
A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial

Limiting factor:growth

Saturday 5 September: Good. 8am–11am — growing slowly — growth potential 0.22

Saturday 5 September · 8am–11amReasonably confident

8am–11am — growing slowly — growth potential 0.22

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryrain earlier today
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm30mm rain over the last week
Poor:Growth
Growing slowlygrowth potential 0.22
Poor:Temperature
Temperature23°C
Good:Wind
Wind light6 km/h
Sociable hours
A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial

Limiting factor:growth

Sunday 6 September: Good. No — 0.2mm of rain falling.

Sunday 6 SeptemberReasonably confident

No — 0.2mm of rain falling.

Marginal:Grass wetness
Grass drydried off since a shower 4 hours ago
Poor:Ground firmness
Ground soft2mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.51
Marginal:Temperature
Temperature21°C
Good:Wind
Wind light9 km/h

Limiting factor:ground firmness

Monday 7 September: Good. 5pm–8pm — ground soft — 57mm rain over the last week

Monday 7 September · 5pm–8pmReasonably confident

5pm–8pm — ground soft — 57mm rain over the last week

Marginal:Grass wetness
Grass drydried off since a shower 0 hours ago
Poor:Ground firmness
Ground soft57mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.61
Marginal:Temperature
Temperature22°C
Good:Wind
Wind light3 km/h
Sociable hours
A bit early or late, but finestarts once the rain has passed

Limiting factor:ground firmness

Tuesday 8 September: Not worth it. No — 0.8mm of rain falling.

Tuesday 8 SeptemberReasonably confident

No — 0.8mm of rain falling.

Poor:Grass wetness
Grass wetraining now
Poor:Ground firmness
Ground soft60mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.94
Good:Temperature
Temperature16°C
Good:Wind
Wind light16 km/h

Limiting factor:grass wetness

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

Wednesday 9 SeptemberLow confidence this far out

No — ground frozen.

Marginal:Grass wetness
Grass drydried off since a shower 5 hours ago
Poor:Ground firmness
Ground soft67mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.97
Good:Temperature
Temperature21°C
Good:Wind
Wind light15 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 dryno rain since Wednesday
Marginal:Ground firmness
Ground soft in places69mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.72
Good:Temperature
Temperature14°C
Good:Wind
Wind light17 km/h

Limiting factor:ground firmness

Soil temperature

79°F26.0°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.

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

    Wednesday 2 September gets hot enough to stress the sward. Mow early or late, and raise the height.

  • Worth watching: Ground still soft

    2mm rain over the last week. A mower will mark it, and a ride-on will rut it.

One email when the app is ready, and nothing else. Unsubscribe in one click. See the privacy notice.

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