While fun to observe and check when planning your next Lake George adventure, tracking water temperature is one of the simplest but most important ways that we listen to Lake George.
This temperature sensor is .5 meters (~1.6 feet) deep and is located at RPI's Darrin Freshwater Institute in Bolton Landing. Water temperature generally decreases with increasing depth. Water temperature can vary throughout Lake George.
Learn More About Lake George and the Future of Freshwater
Join the LGA on Saturday, August 8 at the Fort William Henry Carriage House for our free public 2026 Annual Meeting focused on the future of Lake George water quality protection.
The Annual Meeting is more than a yearly update. It is a defining moment for the future of Lake George.
Attendees will gain insight into the most pressing threats facing water quality today, the solutions already making an impact and the policies needed to protect the Lake for generations to come.
Register today for the 2026 LGA Annual Meeting!
Lake George Isn't Just Beautiful. It's Alive
These real-time water temperature readings are part of the Lake George Association’s ongoing scientific monitoring to protect the Queen of American Lakes.
Tracking temperature helps our scientists better understand the lake's physical and biological processes. Changes in temperature directly affect how oxygen and nutrients circulate throughout the lake and impact aquatic habitats. Warmer water can give invasive species a competitive advantage and could also lead to an increase in algae growth.
This Jefferson Project vertical profiler is an automated monitoring system that moves up and down through the water column to collect real-time data on water quality at different depths.
The plot chart shows when the lake first measured 68°F in each of the last four years.
Recent Temperature Readings
In Harris Bay, a vertical profiler has been deployed seasonally since 2021. In 2024, the lake water temperature at 3 feet depth hit 68°F nearly a week earlier than prior years. While this may mean an earlier date for comfortable swimming, this also means that deep mixing, which keeps oxygen transported to the lake bottom, stops earlier in the season. The warm water early in the spring and summer can have negative affects on the ecosystem.
Who is the LGA?
Watch: Science-to-Solutions on Lake George
Meet the LGA's Executive Director
Brendan Wiltse, Ph.D., joined the Lake George Association as its new Executive Director in December 2024. He brings over a decade of extensive field research and experience to the LGA, having studied aquatic ecology across the globe. Wiltse brings a global perspective to Lake George and has a deep appreciation for freshwater biology, education and conservation.
