What determines lake water temperature?

Lake water temperatures have been rising with warmer air temperatures (particularly in the winter), more rain than snow, declining snowpack, and earlier snowmelt. Other factors affecting lake water temperature are ice cover, cloud cover, humidity, and wind.



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In summer, the top of the lake becomes warmer than the lower layers. You've probably noticed this when swimming in a lake in summer - your shoulders feel like they're in a warm bath while your feet are chilled. Since warm water is less dense that colder water, it stays on top of the lake surface.

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We now have a micro (small) scale circulation — the lake breeze. This lake breeze that develops in the spring can cause a 30 degree difference in temperature over a few miles. It can oscillate back and forth, where you a warm one minute, but cold the next. We see this on a grand scale as well around the globe.

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Deep lakes only mix in spring and fall, and the bottom of deep lakes stays cold and dark because light cannot reach the bottom. Shallow lakes, in contrast, mix all summer because light reaches the bottom of the lake and warms the whole water column.

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Lake temperatures are largely driven by interactions with the atmosphere, so colder air temperatures lead to colder lake temperatures, according to the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL).

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The following are some of the most important basic factors that give unique character to each lake ecosystem. Climate: Temperature, wind, precipitation, and solar radiation all critically affect the lake's hydrologic and chemical characteristics, and indirectly affect the composition of the biological community.

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If you are getting 50-55 degrees Fahrenheit, turnover may be nearing or just starting. By 45-50 degrees Fahrenheit the lake is making the change rapidly, and fall turnover is complete at around 40.

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The high heat capacity and cooling power of evaporation work on bodies of water as well as your body. Bodies of water are slow to warm up, even under a blazing summer sun, and are constantly cooled by evaporation.

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