Ohio · Multiple shoreline counties County
Lake Erie
Cleveland · Sandusky · Port Clinton · Put-in-Bay
Loading live conditions for Lake Erie…
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"The shallowest and warmest Great Lake — the western basin around the Lake Erie Islands averages just 24 feet deep and turns genuinely warm by July, often reaching the mid-70s. That makes Erie the Great Lake with the longest real swim season, from Put-in-Bay ferries to Cedar Point's beach, with an algae-bloom caveat in late summer."
Seasonal pattern
When does Lake Erie warm up?
Lake Erie is deep (max depth 210ft) and carries significant thermal inertia, so it warms slowly — surface temperatures typically don't reach comfortable swimming range until late June or early July. Spring-fed or alpine lakes stay cooler all summer. The live forecast above shows current conditions.
Field notes
About Lake Erie
- Warmest of the five Great Lakes — shallow western basin heats fastest
- Longest swim season of any Great Lake (roughly June through September)
- Late-summer algae blooms in the western basin — check advisories in Aug-Sep
- Shallow water also cools fast — fall temps drop quicker than the deep lakes
- Surface area
- 6,363,000 acres
- Max depth
- 210 ft
- County
- Multiple shoreline counties
- Water data
- Modeled estimate from air-temp trends