Special Weather Statement

It is time for another special weather statement. I think the first "Special Weather Statement" came a few weeks later last year.  Here is a weather report for the next 8 days for the golf course.  First glance finds all 90s with lows barely dipping below 70.  Here is a post that discusses the ideal temperatures for cool season grasses, and what happens when the weather presents temperatures outside those ideals: Turfgrass Temperature Stress, Part 1.  We have been warmer than normal this year, but another environmental anomaly has been on our side, the dry weather.  We could use some rain, but the lack of humidity has helped with diminishing disease pressure.  Fungal pathogens that cause disease symptoms in turf need the presence of moisture to become a problem.  We have been lacking this presence of moisture, so disease issues have been non-existent for us up to this point of the year. Here is part 2 of the first link that discusses this point: Turfgrass Temperature Stress, Part 2.

Here is a graph from the past 24 hours (9am Thursday morning to 8am Friday morning).  If you stepped outside after the quick burst of rain yesterday, you could feel the humidity in the air.  Those weather conditions are ideal for the decline of turf health and the onset of pathogen activity.  This graph shows the spike in the humidity (red line) after the rain (green bar) moved through.  Thankfully, the humidity has dipped down again.  As long as we can avoid the bursts of rain, and the humidity can stay low, we feel we will be able to fight the onset of disease activity.

This still leaves us with the problem of the high temperatures.  We can manage the high temperatures much more easily with lower humidities.  But, we do expect some yellowing to occur of the leaf blades.  The normal green color that we have enjoyed this year will likely fade of the next ten days until cooler soil temperatures return.