Soil temperature in Kansas City, Missouri
Soil temperature
95°F34.8°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 Kansas City, Missouri is currently 34.8°C, and falling about 30.2°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. As for the weekend: nothing doing. 0.3mm of rain falling.
The next recommended window in Kansas City opens at 8am on Wednesday 2 September, because anything earlier is the hour your neighbours will remember. Underfoot, the ground reads as firm after 0mm 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 34.8°C cooling to 0.0°C
Tuesday 1 September: Good. No — growing slowly, growth potential 0.20.
Tuesday 1 SeptemberConfident
No — growing slowly, growth potential 0.20.
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryno rain in the record
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
- Poor:Growth
- Growing slowlygrowth potential 0.20
- Poor:Temperature
- Heat stress34°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light12 km/h
Limiting factor:growth
Wednesday 2 September: Good. 8am–9am — barely growing — growth potential 0.13
Wednesday 2 September · 8am–9amConfident
8am–9am — barely growing — growth potential 0.13
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryno rain in the record
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
- Poor:Growth
- Barely growinggrowth potential 0.13
- Poor:Temperature
- Cool24°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light4 km/h
- Sociable hours
- A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial
Limiting factor:growth
Thursday 3 September: Good. No — barely growing, growth potential 0.08.
Thursday 3 SeptemberConfident
No — barely growing, growth potential 0.08.
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryno rain in the record
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
- Poor:Growth
- Barely growinggrowth potential 0.08
- Poor:Temperature
- Heat stress26°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light13 km/h
Limiting factor:growth
Friday 4 September: Good. No — barely growing, growth potential 0.05.
Friday 4 SeptemberConfident
No — barely growing, growth potential 0.05.
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryno rain in the record
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
- Poor:Growth
- Barely growinggrowth potential 0.05
- Poor:Temperature
- Heat stress27°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light13 km/h
Limiting factor:growth
Saturday 5 September: Good. No — barely growing, growth potential 0.03.
Saturday 5 SeptemberReasonably confident
No — barely growing, growth potential 0.03.
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryno rain in the record
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
- Poor:Growth
- Barely growinggrowth potential 0.03
- Poor:Temperature
- Heat stress29°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light9 km/h
Limiting factor:growth
Sunday 6 September: Good. No — barely growing, growth potential 0.04.
Sunday 6 SeptemberReasonably confident
No — barely growing, growth potential 0.04.
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryno rain in the record
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
- Poor:Growth
- Barely growinggrowth potential 0.04
- Poor:Temperature
- Heat stress29°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light10 km/h
Limiting factor:growth
Monday 7 September: Not worth it. No — 0.3mm of rain falling.
Monday 7 SeptemberReasonably confident
No — 0.3mm of rain falling.
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass drydried off since a shower 3 hours ago
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.56
- Good:Temperature
- Cool23°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light6 km/h
Limiting factor:none
Tuesday 8 September: Good. No — 0.1mm of rain falling.
Tuesday 8 SeptemberReasonably confident
No — 0.1mm of rain falling.
- Marginal:Grass wetness
- Grass drydried off since a shower 0 hours ago
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm3mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing steadilygrowth potential 0.47
- Poor:Temperature
- Temperature22°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light9 km/h
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 dryrain earlier today
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm6mm rain over the last week
- Poor:Growth
- Barely growinggrowth potential 0.09
- Poor:Temperature
- Heat stress30°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light19 km/h
Limiting factor:growth
Thursday 10 September: Not worth it. No — ground frozen.
Thursday 10 SeptemberLow confidence this far out
No — ground frozen.
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass drydried off since a shower 2 hours ago
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm6mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.79
- Marginal:Temperature
- Temperature18°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light11 km/h
Limiting factor:grass wetness
Nearby
Your own postcode
These are town-centre figures. Yours will differ a little.