Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Best weekend slot
Monday 10am–midday
Verdict: Good
dried off since a shower 4 hours ago, ground firm
Next mow
Today 8pm–9pm
Verdict: Good
heat stress — 27°C
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 25.7°C cooling to 0.0°C
Tuesday 1 September: Good. 8pm–9pm — heat stress — 27°C
Tuesday 1 September · 8pm–9pmConfident
8pm–9pm — heat stress — 27°C
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryno rain in the record
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.75
- Poor:Temperature
- Heat stress27°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light17 km/h
- Sociable hours
- Your neighbours will remember it
Limiting factor:temperature
Wednesday 2 September: Good. midday–3pm — cool — 25°C
Wednesday 2 September · midday–3pmConfident
midday–3pm — cool — 25°C
- Marginal:Grass wetness
- Grass dryrain earlier today
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.84
- Marginal:Temperature
- Temperature19°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light12 km/h
- Sociable hours
- Fine by the neighboursstarts once the dew has burnt off
Limiting factor:temperature
Thursday 3 September: Good. 8am–midday — no rain since Tuesday, ground firm
Thursday 3 September · 8am–middayConfident
8am–midday — no rain since Tuesday, ground firm
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryno rain since Tuesday
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm16mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing steadilygrowth potential 0.38
- Poor:Temperature
- Temperature21°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light14 km/h
- Sociable hours
- A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial
Limiting factor:none
Friday 4 September: Good. 8am–10am — barely growing — growth potential 0.18
Friday 4 September · 8am–10amConfident
8am–10am — barely growing — growth potential 0.18
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryno rain since Tuesday
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm16mm rain over the last week
- Poor:Growth
- Barely growinggrowth potential 0.18
- Poor:Temperature
- Temperature21°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light10 km/h
- Sociable hours
- A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial
Limiting factor:growth
Saturday 5 September: Good. 8am–10am — barely growing — growth potential 0.19
Saturday 5 September · 8am–10amReasonably confident
8am–10am — barely growing — growth potential 0.19
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass drydried off since a shower 3 hours ago
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm16mm rain over the last week
- Poor:Growth
- Barely growinggrowth potential 0.19
- Poor:Temperature
- Temperature22°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light11 km/h
- Sociable hours
- A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial
Limiting factor:growth
Sunday 6 September: Good. 10am–11am — growing slowly — growth potential 0.31
Sunday 6 September · 10am–11amReasonably confident
10am–11am — growing slowly — growth potential 0.31
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass drydried off since a shower 5 hours ago
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm16mm rain over the last week
- Marginal:Growth
- Growing slowlygrowth potential 0.31
- Poor:Temperature
- Temperature21°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light2 km/h
- Sociable hours
- Fine by the neighboursstarts when it stops being antisocial
Limiting factor:growth
Monday 7 September: Good. 10am–midday — dried off since a shower 4 hours ago, ground firm
Monday 7 September · 10am–middayReasonably confident
10am–midday — dried off since a shower 4 hours ago, ground firm
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass drydried off since a shower 4 hours ago
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm16mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.53
- Poor:Temperature
- Temperature20°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light9 km/h
- Sociable hours
- Fine by the neighboursstarts once the dew has burnt off
Limiting factor:temperature
Tuesday 8 September: Good. 11am–1pm — cool — 25°C
Tuesday 8 September · 11am–1pmReasonably confident
11am–1pm — cool — 25°C
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryrain earlier today
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm17mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.80
- Marginal:Temperature
- Temperature19°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light12 km/h
- Sociable hours
- Fine by the neighboursstarts once the dew has burnt off
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 drydried off since a shower 4 hours ago
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm20mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.76
- Marginal:Temperature
- Temperature19°C
- Marginal:Wind
- Wind light21 km/h
Limiting factor:none
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
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm5mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.74
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature11°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light12 km/h
Limiting factor:none
Soil temperature
78°F25.7°C
at 6cm — germination depth
Cooling over the next 11 days.
Seeding conditions are open — soil is 25.7°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 25.7°C at 6cm and holding above 12.5°C.
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.