Water Temperature - 2018
 

The water temperature at East Bear Island on Monday, May 7, was 47 degrees. 🐻

Wow. That’s a little chilly. [emoji33]. Hope it warms up by memorial weekend.


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It always does..... while sometimes it isn't as warm as some people would like, it is generally warm enough to get into with worry....

Doesn't warm up too quickly when the nights still dip into the 30's (38 this AM).

Based on records, should be in the low 60's by the end of the month

Thank you, was just asking my son the other day "I wonder what the water temps are" with regards to going fishing.

Water temps have taken quite a jump this week. I was recording around 50 last week. As of 8 AM this morning, reading close to 57!

Trexlers is showing similar numbers.

Water Temperature Update
 

The water temperature this morning (Tuesday) at East Bear Island is 55 degrees. 🐻

The correct water temperature at the surface is now 65-degrees. While the water temp page info says it is now 68, as reported by the DES at Lakeport Dam, the correct temp taken with my very accurate Intex floating mercury water thermometer, available for $2.95 at Rand's Hdwe in Plymouth is 65.

65-degrees is swimmable on a sunny, warm day, if you use a wet suit sleeveless top, wet suit shorts, and a wet suit head cap. The head cap really does a lot to keep the heat in, probably is more effective for staying warm than the top and bottom, all three items together make it doable in 65-degree water.

Finis monofin: got this fin for both feet called a monofin, about $45 and worth it, that changes the dynamics of swimming with both feet in one fin.....is definitely a different swim stroke.... sort of turns you into a fish that wiggles through the water.

Couldn’t you fashion something from pool noodles?

By threading a line done through the center hole of a foam noodle that's been cut to match your waist size, you have a very usable swimmer's flotation belt for safely swimming the cold water and waves out there.

With a sleeveless wet suit top, wet suit shorts, and wet suit cap, you can be out swimming the 65-degree water for 30-minutes or more, out over your head in deep water.

The thing about cold water ..... is that it's cold ..... and you feel it immediately ...... everyone knows this.

Thanks, FLL. I went in yesterday, and was immediately uncomfortable in a mildly concerning kind of way, so I got out almost immediately--couldn't figure out if the water was too cold or I was too old. So glad to hear it was the former!:)

Water temps can vary in different locations for a lot of reasons. It doesn't mean they are wrong.

Usually on June 15th every year the USGS station at Weirs Beach begins recording the water temp and automatically sending it to subscribers like me. That reading is down to the 100th degree but I round it up to 10ths when I post it. I assume they're not using a Rand's Hardware thermometer but I could be wrong :rolleye2:.

Since the end of May I have been getting in the water and then jumping on my float. I paddle out to my raft and then I tie the float up. I love enjoying the sun on the lake before the season gets so busy with boat traffic. I do not get too wet because the raft blocks much of the water. Some days the sun is so warm i have to splash myself with the refreshing lake water. I have found the water nice and not that cold.

Some of cold water swimming is psychological, just a wee bit wacky but fun, driven simply by how much you really want to do it. Having a bright sunny day definitely helps, as opposed to a cloudy, dreary day. Having a 104-degree hot tub, right close to the lake, outside, helps a lot, since no matter how cold I get, I can do a fast and sometimes painful thaw-warm up in the hot tub.

The cold travels up your arm and legs, and thawing out takes maybe 5-minutes and going from semi frozen to thawed arms and legs is painful, just like thawing out frozen feet and hands ...... supposedly, cold water swimming or wading is good for one's circulation?

Update
 

The water temperature today (06-15-18) at East Bear Island is 66 degrees. 🐻

60 @ 6 ft at Little Bear


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Surface water temp yesterday was 66, measure with very accurate 2.49 (corrected price) Intex floating water thermometer.

66 is swimmable with wet suit shorts and shirt, but cold, 30-minutes in 66-degree water, and it draws the heat out of you and makes you feel cold even with the wet suit items.

What this cold Winnipesaukee 66-water needs is a battery powered, heated, wet suit, swimmer's vest ...... to heat the core area of chest and lower back.

Helloooooooo Parafunalia ......you got any battery heated wet suit vests?

Wonder what's up with the yet to be installed, not present, USGS water monitor buoy that was located just outside the swim line at the Weirs Beach swim area for the last two summers; 2016 and 2017?

So, where's the orange USGS water monitor buoy for the Weirs Beach-Lake Winnipesaukee area this year?

According to reports from February 2018, the federal executive had said it wanted to cut the USGS budget by 20% so maybe the buoy monitor program has been curtailed or something? Have no clue ...... all I know is the buoy ..... it ain't here this year, so far?

As already mentioned, a very good quality, floating Intex water thermometer, can be had for just $2.49 at Rand's Hardware in Plymouth..... it is designed with a lanyard hole to have a small, thin, line attached so it can be attached to a dock .... an accurate mercury thermometer ....because the posted NH-DES temp taken at the Lakeport Dam always seems to be 2-3 degrees warmer than what I measure .... now at 67.5 .... which is not very warm.

I was disappointed to get this reply from the USGS when I inquired about the buoy at Weirs Beach:

The NHDES reading won't be as useful for me since it only provides a graph and not an exact daily temperature. The USGS used to send me an email every day with the reading which really helped me get the temperature posted every day.

thank you for info, so does that mean they will take that ugly thing down or just leave it there?

Maybe their tabular data is easier to use for your purpose?

https://www4.des.state.nh.us/rti_data/WEIN3_TABLE.HTML

Update to an Update
 

The water temperature today (06-30-18) at East Bear Island is a toasty 75 degrees. 🐻

Even more motivating for us while we sit in traffic!!! :banana:

I was pleasantly surprised today not sure what it is but it's very nice :)

Hey, here's an interesting website from the US Weather Service that talks about what can happen when you fall out of a boat, and into cold water deep enough to be over your head.

Ok, so the water temp is something like 74 right now ........ well, summer is very brief, and it won't be too long before the water temp is down at 34 .... a temp more appropriate for cold water info:

www.weather.gov/safety/coldwater ... click on 'body's reaction to cold water'

I figure the thing to do is to cover your mouth and nose with your hand, and brace yourself for the cold shock .... and maybe slowly count to ten while you keep your mouth and nose covered ........ and be wearing a pfd .... or, a home made noodle swimmer's belt ....which do indeed work very good for swimming with its body center, balanced buoyancy ....... something that a pfd does not have.

Update to an Update to an Update
 

The water temperature today (08-06-18) at East Bear Island is 82 degrees. The air temperature reached 89 degrees earlier. 🐻💦

At 4:44 yesterday afternoon, upon arriving and parking in the Plymouth Walmart parking lot, my car's dashboard therm said the outside temp was 94 ..... my my my!

According to the Old Man on the Mountain, 82 is the warmest Lake Winni water temp going back for 12,000 years ...... no fool'n! ...... and he should know ..... yes, he should!

Like no kidding, looking through the water temp records which start from the year 2000, an 82-degree surface temp has never been reported before. Usually the high for July and August is 76-78, and July-2018 has some 78-80 highs, and now an 82 is reported on August 6.

Isn't this a 12,000 year, meteorological, Lake Winnipesaukee water temp record or what .......anybody?

U all knows what they say ....... when it's hot, it's hot ....... thas right!

That’s warm! What depth was the temp reading at?

Temperature Depth
 

Temperature taken at about 12" deep, in the shade, and early evening. 🐻

Update to an Update to an Update to an Update
 

The water temperature at East Bear Island yesterday (10-03-18) was 64 degrees. The lake level appears to be about six inches below "full". This seems to be unusual for this time of year. 🐻

Thank you for this, was hoping someone would post this. Last weekend on the boat was getting about the same numbers on the surface with the boat sonar.

With this drop in temperature the last few weeks, would anyone have guess if the lake is "turning-over" in the larger sections of the lake?

Getting close. The thermocline is at about 10 meters right now and is very distinct. Temps above are mid-60's, below thermocline is high 50's to low 50's.

The flip occurs when the temperatures above and below approach the same number.

Thank you very much for the water temp information.

Impact on lake flip
 

What variables play into lake flip? Is it just temperature? Do particulates play a role?

Just temperature. https://www.nationalgeographic.org/media/lake-turnover/

Any chance of a water temp up-date for Winnipesaukee?

Still hoping to get some (bass) fishing in before the really cold weather sets in. This past month was in my recollection was one of most lousiest "Octobers" I can remember. Seemed unseasonably colder and a lot of rainy cloudy wet days, with dam few nice days mixed in to make up for the crappy ones.

Hoping for just a few more days on the water in November, but wondering how much the temp. has dropped in the past 2-3 weeks.

Thanks

I'm getting 46.9 here on Merrymeeting, which usually tracks closely to the temps recorded on Winni. You can also get up to date Winni temps here,
https://www.trexlers.com/lake-winnipesaukee-live-feed

Thank you Merrymeeting for the temp and the link


Wow, just around 20 degrees colder than your last temp report from about 3 weeks ago. Hard to believe that another 15 degrees colder will start seeing the "Ice-In" threads popping up.

I'll deal with the cold water ....... but not the snow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA0LLa2EGHA

Save this link
 

Here you go. Save this link.

https://www4.des.state.nh.us/rti_data/WEIN3_TABLE.HTML

Dave

Thank you "upthesaukee" :)


That's a nice chart. Very nice.