Soil temperature in Lincoln, Nebraska
Soil temperature
90°F32.4°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 Lincoln, Nebraska is currently 32.4°C, and falling about 27.7°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.
8 of the next 10 days are good mowing days. The best weekend slot right now is Saturday 8am–9am, on the basis that barely growing — growth potential 0.12.
The next recommended window in Lincoln 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 32.4°C cooling to 0.0°C
Tuesday 1 September: Good. No — heat stress, 36°C.
Tuesday 1 SeptemberConfident
No — heat stress, 36°C.
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryno rain in over a week
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
- Marginal:Growth
- Growing slowlygrowth potential 0.27
- Poor:Temperature
- Heat stress36°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light13 km/h
Limiting factor:temperature
Wednesday 2 September: Good. 8am–10am — barely growing — growth potential 0.14
Wednesday 2 September · 8am–10amConfident
8am–10am — barely growing — growth potential 0.14
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryno rain in over a week
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
- Poor:Growth
- Barely growinggrowth potential 0.14
- Poor:Temperature
- Cool25°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light8 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 0.07.
Thursday 3 SeptemberConfident
No — barely growing, growth potential 0.07.
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass drydried off since a shower 4 hours ago
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
- Poor:Growth
- Barely growinggrowth potential 0.07
- Poor:Temperature
- Heat stress26°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light21 km/h
Limiting factor:growth
Friday 4 September: Good. No — 0.2mm of rain falling.
Friday 4 SeptemberConfident
No — 0.2mm of rain falling.
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryrain earlier today
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm4mm rain over the last week
- Poor:Growth
- Barely growinggrowth potential 0.05
- Poor:Temperature
- Cool24°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light21 km/h
Limiting factor:growth
Saturday 5 September: Good. 8am–9am — barely growing — growth potential 0.12
Saturday 5 September · 8am–9amReasonably confident
8am–9am — barely growing — growth potential 0.12
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryrain earlier today
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm4mm rain over the last week
- Poor:Growth
- Barely growinggrowth potential 0.12
- Poor:Temperature
- Cool25°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light7 km/h
- Sociable hours
- A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial
Limiting factor:growth
Sunday 6 September: Good. No — barely growing, growth potential 0.10.
Sunday 6 SeptemberReasonably confident
No — barely growing, growth potential 0.10.
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass drydried off since a shower 2 hours ago
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm5mm rain over the last week
- Poor:Growth
- Barely growinggrowth potential 0.10
- Poor:Temperature
- Cool23°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light3 km/h
Limiting factor:growth
Monday 7 September: Good. No — 0.3mm of rain falling.
Monday 7 SeptemberReasonably confident
No — 0.3mm of rain falling.
- Marginal:Grass wetness
- Grass drydried off since a shower 3 hours ago
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm6mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing steadilygrowth potential 0.45
- Poor:Temperature
- Temperature21°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light12 km/h
Limiting factor:temperature
Tuesday 8 September: Good. 2pm–3pm — grass damp — rain earlier today
Tuesday 8 September · 2pm–3pmReasonably confident
2pm–3pm — grass damp — rain earlier today
- Marginal:Grass wetness
- Grass dryrain earlier today
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm9mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.71
- Marginal:Temperature
- Temperature21°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light11 km/h
- Sociable hours
- Fine by the neighboursstarts once the dew has burnt off
Limiting factor:grass wetness
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 0 hours ago
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm12mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing steadilygrowth potential 0.48
- Poor:Temperature
- Temperature22°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light14 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 dryrain earlier today
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm14mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.95
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature15°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light12 km/h
Limiting factor:none
Nearby
Your own postcode
These are town-centre figures. Yours will differ a little.