Of the factors that influence plant growth, turfgrass managers are able to modify in some way the plant water status and the nitrogen supply to the grass, but they can do little to adjust the temperature and the light. As a consequence, both the grass adaptation to a particular environment, and the management requirements for the grass, will be influenced or controlled by the combination of light and temperature.

I spoke about this at a conference in 2012 and shared this handout. From the start of the handout:

The weather, and specifically the temperature and the amount of sunshine, has a major influence on the growth of grass and therefore on the suitability of certain grasses for certain climates. By plotting the climatological normal weather data with temperature on the horizontal axis (x-axis) and sunshine hours on the vertical axis (y-axis), we can see which locations are similar in these parameters, and thus likely to be suitable for the same grasses, and to similar maintenance practices for grasses. Many locations in East, South, and Southeast Asia are distinguished by relatively low sunshine duration as compared with locations of similar temperature in North America, Oceania, Africa, and Europe. For additional information about the use of these charts, see www.climate.asianturfgrass.com.

The idea is that when temperature and sunshine are the same (or similar) at two or more locations, the growing conditions, and the energy available for grass growth, are the same (or similar). When the temperature and sunshine are different, with no overlap, then the growing conditions are clearly different.

I think this is interesting and informative because such an approach can help to identify places that we might think are similar, but are in fact different, and vice versa. The implications for maintenance requirements, grass selection, and location to location comparisons are also evident from such representations of climate data. I've made some more plots to illustrate this.

I start with Miami. The normal monthly mean temperature is shown on the x-axis and the mean daily sunshine hours for that month are shown on the y-axis. The polygon defined by each of the 12 months of the year expresses what the normal growing environment is like at Miami. Places that are similar to Miami should have overlap in light and temperature with Miami. Places that are different should have little or no overlap.

Moscow, for example, has no overlap with Miami. I don't think anyone would expect it to.

The hottest months of the year at Moscow are cooler (with more sunshine) than the coldest months at Miami. There is no overlap between these locations.

New York City has some overlap with both Miami and Moscow. If I plot New York on this chart, I can see which months at New York are similar to Miami or Moscow.
June in New York is similar in temperature and sunshine to March in Miami, September in New York is almost the same as January in Miami, and July and August in New York are between March and October conditions in Miami. One can also see the seasonal overlap between New York and Moscow conditions.

How about another warm season location like Miami? This plot adds Singapore conditions.

There is no overlap between Singapore and Miami, even though both are warm-season locations. There is more overlap between New York and Miami (about 3 months) than there is between Singapore and Miami (0 months). This has implications for grass selection and management. That is, the grasses the work in Singapore may not do very well in Miami, and vice versa.

Some places are predictably similar. Portland, and Seattle, for example, have almost complete overlap.

Other locations that one might expect to be similar have no overlap at all. I often use Honolulu and Hilo as an example. And sure enough, one finds different grass species growing at these two locations.

This video discusses Hilo and Honolulu.

One can also look at transition zone locations, like Atlanta, where both warm and cool-season grasses are grown.

How does a cool-season location like London compare to Atlanta?

June and July in London are similar to March and November in Atlanta. July and August in London have similar temperatures as October in Atlanta, but with less sunshine.

Melbourne is another transition zone location, with golf course fairways and sports fields usually planted to warm-season grasses, and golf course putting greens usually planted to cool-season grasses.

Melbourne has some overlap with both Atlanta and London.