Soil temperature in North Bay, Ontario
Soil temperature
19.9°C68°F
at 6cm — germination depth
Cooling over the next 11 days.
Seeding conditions are open — soil is 19.9°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 North Bay, Ontario is currently 19.9°C, and falling about 19.1°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 19.9°C at 6cm and holding above 12.5°C.
6 of the next 10 days look workable. The other 4 are held back by wet grass or soft ground. The best weekend slot right now is Sunday 10am–8pm, on the basis that no rain since Wednesday, ground firm.
The next recommended window in North Bay opens at 8am on Thursday 3 September, because anything earlier is the hour your neighbours will remember. Underfoot, the ground reads as firm after 42mm 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 19.6°C cooling to 0.0°C
Tuesday 1 September: Not worth it. No — 0.4mm of rain falling.
Tuesday 1 SeptemberConfident
No — 0.4mm of rain falling.
- Poor:Grass wetness
- Grass wetraining now
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm42mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 1.00
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature21°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light9 km/h
Limiting factor:grass wetness
Wednesday 2 September: Marginal. No — 3.6mm of rain falling.
Wednesday 2 SeptemberConfident
No — 3.6mm of rain falling.
- Poor:Grass wetness
- Grass wetraining now
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm45mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.99
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature20°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light7 km/h
Limiting factor:grass wetness
Thursday 3 September: Good. 8am–8pm — rain earlier today, ground firm
Thursday 3 September · 8am–8pmConfident
8am–8pm — rain earlier today, ground firm
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryrain earlier today
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm49mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 1.00
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature17°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light6 km/h
- Sociable hours
- A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial
Limiting factor:none
Friday 4 September: Good. 8am–8pm — grass dry — no rain since Wednesday
Friday 4 September · 8am–8pmConfident
8am–8pm — grass dry — no rain since Wednesday
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryno rain since Wednesday
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm7mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.84
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature12°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light7 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–8pm — no rain since Wednesday, ground firm
Saturday 5 September · 8am–8pmReasonably confident
8am–8pm — no rain since Wednesday, ground firm
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryno rain since Wednesday
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm7mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.84
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature12°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light9 km/h
- Sociable hours
- A bit early or late, but finestarts once the dew has burnt off
Limiting factor:none
Sunday 6 September: Good. 10am–8pm — no rain since Wednesday, ground firm
Sunday 6 September · 10am–8pmReasonably confident
10am–8pm — no rain since Wednesday, ground firm
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryno rain since Wednesday
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm7mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.82
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature12°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light1 km/h
- Sociable hours
- Fine by the neighboursstarts once the dew has burnt off
Limiting factor:none
Monday 7 September: Good. 8am–6pm — no rain since Wednesday, ground firm
Monday 7 September · 8am–6pmReasonably confident
8am–6pm — no rain since Wednesday, ground firm
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryno rain since Wednesday
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm7mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.87
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature13°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light8 km/h
- Sociable hours
- A bit early or late, but finestarts once the dew has burnt off
Limiting factor:none
Tuesday 8 September: Good. 10am–8pm — grass dry — rain earlier today
Tuesday 8 September · 10am–8pmReasonably confident
10am–8pm — grass dry — rain earlier today
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryrain earlier today
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm8mm rain over the last week
- Marginal:Growth
- Growing slowlygrowth potential 0.34
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature11°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light18 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 dryno rain since Tuesday
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm6mm rain over the last week
- Poor:Growth
- Barely growinggrowth potential 0.15
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature11°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light11 km/h
Limiting factor:growth
Thursday 10 September: Not worth it. No — ground frozen.
Thursday 10 SeptemberLow confidence this far out
No — ground frozen.
- Poor:Grass wetness
- Grass damprain 5 hours ago
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm6mm rain over the last week
- Poor:Growth
- Growing slowlygrowth potential 0.21
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature10°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light20 km/h
Limiting factor:grass wetness
Nearby
Your own postcode
These are town-centre figures. Yours will differ a little.