"Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe" The Sea Hawk at wow way d0t com wrote in message
news:JOGdneSVwODlZTbZnZ2dnUVZ_rmdnZ2d@wideopenwest .com...
What's the water temperature in Lake Erie this time of year? :-(

Surface temperature is about 70 degrees F...

Wow. When I read that I was skeptical. But, not only are you correct
(duh), you were even being a bit conservative:

http://www.wbuf.noaa.gov/laketemps/laketemps.htm

Even 30 feet below the surface, the measured temperature is 73F. On the
surface, it may be quite a bit warmer than that.

Looking here (the minimum temperatures over the last 80 years):
http://www.wbuf.noaa.gov/laketemps/COLD_LE.htm

I am amazed at the variation in temperature of the lake during the year, and
just how warm the *lowest* temperatures on record are during the summer.
I'm so used to our snow-melt-fed lakes here in the Puget Sound area that I
forgot many inland lakes can get quite warm during the summer (for example,
at that same depth of 30 feet, Lake Sammamish varies only within a range of
about 15F throughout the year, peaking about about 60-65F...even at the very
surface, it rarely gets as high as 70F, and even then only briefly right
near the end of the summer).

The water at the Lake Erie beaches must feel like bathwater! (in the
summer, I mean)

Pete