Refers to lakes located in a climate where the summers are warm and the winters moderately cold.
Casual observers understand that weather influences water temperature on a daily and seasonal basis.
What is less understood is how much water temperature varies during the course of a single day and to what depth the variation occurs. Fall cooling and spring warming of surface water act to make density uniform throughout the water column. This allows wind and wave action to mix the entire lake. Use a data table to record the effects of time and depth on water temperature. Graph and interpret temperature data by depth over time.