Soil temperature in Bloomington, Minnesota
Soil temperature
82°F28.0°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 |
Soil temperature at 6cm in Bloomington, Minnesota is currently 28.0°C, and falling about 24.2°C over the next 11 days. That depth matters because it is where grass seed sits and where roots start working, and it lags air temperature by days — which is why a warm afternoon here tells you very little on its own.
Lawns in this area are typically Kentucky bluegrass with tall fescue, the usual mix for cool-season lawns at this latitude. That blend needs the soil to hold above 12.5°C before seed germinates reliably. Too warm to seed — the soil is heat-stressed. Wait for it to cool.
7 of the next 10 days are good mowing days. The other 3 are held back by wet grass or soft ground. The best weekend slot right now is Saturday 8am–11am, on the basis that growing slowly — growth potential 0.28.
The next recommended window in Bloomington opens at 7pm on Tuesday 1 September, and holds while conditions stay put. Underfoot, the ground reads as soft after 82mm rain over the last week.
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 28.0°C cooling to 0.0°C
Tuesday 1 September: Good. 7pm–8pm — ground soft — 82mm rain over the last week
Tuesday 1 September · 7pm–8pmConfident
7pm–8pm — ground soft — 82mm rain over the last week
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryno rain since Saturday
- Poor:Ground firmness
- Ground soft82mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.84
- Marginal:Temperature
- Heat stress26°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light5 km/h
- Sociable hours
- A bit early or late, but fine
Limiting factor:ground firmness
Wednesday 2 September: Good. 8am–5pm — ground soft in places — 82mm rain over the last week
Wednesday 2 September · 8am–5pmConfident
8am–5pm — ground soft in places — 82mm rain over the last week
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryrain earlier today
- Marginal:Ground firmness
- Ground soft in places82mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.88
- Marginal:Temperature
- Temperature18°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light2 km/h
- Sociable hours
- A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial
Limiting factor:ground firmness
Thursday 3 September: Good. 8am–midday — ground soft in places — 83mm rain over the last week
Thursday 3 September · 8am–middayConfident
8am–midday — ground soft in places — 83mm rain over the last week
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryno rain since Wednesday
- Marginal:Ground firmness
- Ground soft in places83mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.51
- 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:ground firmness
Friday 4 September: Good. 9am–11am — grass dry — rain earlier today
Friday 4 September · 9am–11amConfident
9am–11am — grass dry — rain earlier today
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryrain earlier today
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground soft in places83mm rain over the last week
- Marginal:Growth
- Growing slowlygrowth potential 0.32
- Poor:Temperature
- Temperature22°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light3 km/h
- Sociable hours
- A bit early or late, but finestarts once the dew has burnt off
Limiting factor:grass wetness
Saturday 5 September: Good. 8am–11am — growing slowly — growth potential 0.28
Saturday 5 September · 8am–11amReasonably confident
8am–11am — growing slowly — growth potential 0.28
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryrain earlier today
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm85mm rain over the last week
- Marginal:Growth
- Growing slowlygrowth potential 0.28
- Poor:Temperature
- Temperature22°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light5 km/h
- Sociable hours
- A bit early or late, but finestarts once the dew has burnt off
Limiting factor:growth
Sunday 6 September: Good. No — 0.1mm of rain falling.
Sunday 6 SeptemberReasonably confident
No — 0.1mm of rain falling.
- Marginal:Grass wetness
- Grass drydried off since a shower 4 hours ago
- Poor:Ground firmness
- Ground soft4mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.53
- Marginal:Temperature
- Temperature21°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light10 km/h
Limiting factor:ground firmness
Monday 7 September: Good. 5pm–8pm — ground soft — 58mm rain over the last week
Monday 7 September · 5pm–8pmReasonably confident
5pm–8pm — ground soft — 58mm rain over the last week
- Marginal:Grass wetness
- Grass drydried off since a shower 0 hours ago
- Poor:Ground firmness
- Ground soft58mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.67
- Marginal:Temperature
- Temperature22°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light4 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 — 0.7mm of rain falling.
Tuesday 8 SeptemberReasonably confident
No — 0.7mm of rain falling.
- Poor:Grass wetness
- Grass wetraining now
- Poor:Ground firmness
- Ground soft61mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.94
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature16°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light18 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 soft68mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.96
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature21°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light16 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
- Poor:Ground firmness
- Ground soft69mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.73
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature14°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light17 km/h
Limiting factor:ground firmness
Nearby
Your own postcode
These are town-centre figures. Yours will differ a little.