Soil temperature in Halifax, Nova Scotia
Soil temperature
17.7°C64°F
at 6cm — germination depth
Cooling over the next 11 days.
Seeding conditions are open — soil is 17.7°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 |
Soil temperature at 6cm in Halifax, Nova Scotia is currently 17.7°C, and falling about 17.0°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. Seeding conditions are open — soil is 17.7°C at 6cm and holding above 12.5°C.
6 of the next 10 days look workable. The best weekend slot right now is Saturday 2pm–8pm, on the basis that dried off since a shower 1 hour ago, ground firm.
The next recommended window in Halifax opens at 8am on Wednesday 2 September, because that is when the dew has burnt off — earlier than that and you are cutting wet grass. Underfoot, the ground reads as firm after 1mm 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 17.2°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 Monday
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm1mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.92
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature18°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light7 km/h
Limiting factor:none
Wednesday 2 September: Good. 8am–8pm — grass dry — no rain since Monday
Wednesday 2 September · 8am–8pmConfident
8am–8pm — grass dry — no rain since Monday
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryno rain since Monday
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm1mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.83
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature12°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
Thursday 3 September: Good. 8am–1pm — no rain since Monday, ground firm
Thursday 3 September · 8am–1pmConfident
8am–1pm — no rain since Monday, ground firm
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryno rain since Monday
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm1mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.80
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature14°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light10 km/h
- Sociable hours
- A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial
Limiting factor:none
Friday 4 September: Good. 7pm–8pm — dried off since a shower 1 hour ago, ground firm
Friday 4 September · 7pm–8pmConfident
7pm–8pm — dried off since a shower 1 hour ago, ground firm
- Poor:Grass wetness
- Grass drydried off since a shower 3 hours ago
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm3mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.99
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature17°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light20 km/h
- Sociable hours
- A bit early or late, but finestarts once the rain has passed
Limiting factor:none
Saturday 5 September: Good. 2pm–8pm — dried off since a shower 1 hour ago, ground firm
Saturday 5 September · 2pm–8pmReasonably confident
2pm–8pm — dried off since a shower 1 hour ago, ground firm
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryrain earlier today
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm26mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.81
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature15°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light7 km/h
- Sociable hours
- Fine by the neighboursstarts once the rain has passed
Limiting factor:none
Sunday 6 September: Marginal. No — 0.1mm of rain falling.
Sunday 6 SeptemberReasonably confident
No — 0.1mm of rain falling.
- Poor:Grass wetness
- Grass wetrain 4 hours ago
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm26mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.63
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature14°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light21 km/h
Limiting factor:grass wetness
Monday 7 September: Good. midday–8pm — rain earlier today, ground firm
Monday 7 September · midday–8pmReasonably confident
midday–8pm — rain earlier today, ground firm
- Marginal:Grass wetness
- Grass dryrain earlier today
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm32mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.71
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature14°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light17 km/h
- Sociable hours
- Fine by the neighboursstarts once the dew has burnt off
Limiting factor:none
Tuesday 8 September: Good. 4pm–8pm — dried off since a shower 1 hour ago, ground firm
Tuesday 8 September · 4pm–8pmReasonably confident
4pm–8pm — dried off since a shower 1 hour ago, ground firm
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryno rain since Monday
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm32mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.51
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature10°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light6 km/h
- Sociable hours
- Fine by the neighboursstarts once the rain has passed
Limiting factor:none
Wednesday 9 September: Not worth it. No — ground frozen.
Wednesday 9 SeptemberLow confidence this far out
No — ground frozen.
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryrain earlier today
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm32mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing steadilygrowth potential 0.46
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature12°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light7 km/h
Limiting factor:none
Thursday 10 September: Not worth it. No — ground frozen.
Thursday 10 SeptemberLow confidence this far out
No — ground frozen.
- Poor:Grass wetness
- Grass dryno rain since Tuesday
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm32mm rain over the last week
- Poor:Growth
- Barely growinggrowth potential 0.14
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature11°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light4 km/h
Limiting factor:growth
Nearby
Your own postcode
These are town-centre figures. Yours will differ a little.