Missoula, Montana
Best weekend slot
Sunday 11am–7pm
Verdict: Good
rain earlier today, ground firm
Next mow
Tomorrow 8am–2pm
Verdict: Good
rain earlier today, ground firm
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 24.8°C cooling to 0.0°C
Tuesday 1 September: Not worth it. No — 1.4mm of rain falling.
Tuesday 1 SeptemberConfident
No — 1.4mm of rain falling.
- Poor:Grass wetness
- Grass wetraining now
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm3mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.99
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature19°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light19 km/h
Limiting factor:grass wetness
Wednesday 2 September: Good. 8am–2pm — rain earlier today, ground firm
Wednesday 2 September · 8am–2pmConfident
8am–2pm — rain earlier today, ground firm
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryrain earlier today
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm3mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.93
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature14°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light11 km/h
- Sociable hours
- A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial
Limiting factor:none
Thursday 3 September: Good. 8am–9pm — rain earlier today, ground firm
Thursday 3 September · 8am–9pmConfident
8am–9pm — rain earlier today, ground firm
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryrain earlier today
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm7mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.72
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature10°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light12 km/h
- Sociable hours
- A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial
Limiting factor:none
Friday 4 September: Good. 4pm–9pm — dried off since a shower 4 hours ago, ground firm
Friday 4 September · 4pm–9pmConfident
4pm–9pm — dried off since a shower 4 hours ago, ground firm
- Poor:Grass wetness
- Grass drydried off since a shower 4 hours ago
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm7mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.54
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature11°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light6 km/h
- Sociable hours
- Fine by the neighboursstarts once the dew has burnt off
Limiting factor:none
Saturday 5 September: Good. 10am–9pm — rain earlier today, ground firm
Saturday 5 September · 10am–9pmReasonably confident
10am–9pm — rain earlier today, ground firm
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryrain earlier today
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm16mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing steadilygrowth potential 0.49
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature11°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light3 km/h
- Sociable hours
- Fine by the neighboursstarts once the dew has burnt off
Limiting factor:none
Sunday 6 September: Good. 11am–7pm — rain earlier today, ground firm
Sunday 6 September · 11am–7pmReasonably confident
11am–7pm — rain earlier today, ground firm
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryrain earlier today
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm16mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.80
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature11°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light3 km/h
- Sociable hours
- Fine by the neighboursstarts once the dew has burnt off
Limiting factor:none
Monday 7 September: Good. 1pm–9pm — dried off since a shower 1 hour ago, ground firm
Monday 7 September · 1pm–9pmReasonably confident
1pm–9pm — dried off since a shower 1 hour ago, ground firm
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass drydried off since a shower 0 hours ago
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm14mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.85
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature14°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light5 km/h
- Sociable hours
- Fine by the neighboursstarts once the rain has passed
Limiting factor:none
Tuesday 8 September: Good. 8am–10am — growing slowly — growth potential 0.34
Tuesday 8 September · 8am–10amReasonably confident
8am–10am — growing slowly — growth potential 0.34
- Poor:Grass wetness
- Grass dryrain earlier today
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm14mm rain over the last week
- Marginal:Growth
- Growing slowlygrowth potential 0.34
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature11°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light5 km/h
- Sociable hours
- A bit early or late, but finestarts at first light
Limiting factor:growth
Wednesday 9 September: Not worth it. No — ground frozen.
Wednesday 9 SeptemberLow confidence this far out
No — ground frozen.
- Marginal:Grass wetness
- Grass dryrain earlier today
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm16mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.56
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature10°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light5 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 Tuesday
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm13mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.85
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature12°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light4 km/h
Limiting factor:none
Soil temperature
77°F24.8°C
at 6cm — germination depth
Cooling over the next 11 days.
Seeding conditions are open — soil is 24.8°C at 6cm and holding above 12.5°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 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
Good: Seeding window open
Seeding conditions are open — soil is 24.8°C at 6cm and holding above 12.5°C.
Warning: Heat stress
Sunday 6 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.