(Very Brief) Swim Report – August 4, 2009 – Fun With Thermoclines

There’s been a lot of buzz over the past few days about how cold the lake has become in such a short period of time. Dave was out swimming earlier today, and he left me a voice mail message proclaiming that it was the coldest August swim he has ever experienced in 34 years out at the lakefront. With that in mind, I felt compelled to get an empirical measurement from the field…

I took a quick jog down to Ladder #1 and jumped in with just my goggles and swim shorts. And let me tell you something – the rumors are true.

There is a layer of temperate water on the surface that is anywhere from six inches to three feet deep, depending on where you are swimming. This is the pleasant 65F+ water we’ve been enjoying over the past month. Below that, all bets are off. It’s 55F. Tops. Probably even colder as you get below the three foot level.

I’m fairly certain this is just the colder thermocline layer mixing it up with the warmer top layer. But the water seems unusually cold, more reminiscent of October. There is a possibility (although very slight) that the lower-than-average temperatures we’ve been having this summer coupled with the windier days have pushed up the fall turnover by six weeks or so.

Let’s pray to the water deities that this is NOT the case!

0 Replies to “(Very Brief) Swim Report – August 4, 2009 – Fun With Thermoclines

  1. Been away for a month and went for a swim this morning. I noticed the buoys are way out in a straight line to beyond oak street beach, giving us an enormous protected swim area like I’ve never seen before. Does anyone know the story behind getting those moved so beautifully far out?
    David R

  2. Swam my first mile yesterday, could not believe I had to swim in my wetsuit. As of last Thursday I was swimming in no wetsuit. There is definintely pockets of COLD water.

    Thanks for all the updates.

    jgt

  3. It was FREEZING today. I had a wetsuit on but, goodness gracious! I couldn’t feel my ankles, haha. It was almost reminiscent of my LakeMoster Christening, haha.

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