7 April 2023: Spring Turnover and More!

I stopped at the boat launch the other day to check out the waves, and I was not disappointed! It’s windy days like this in the early Spring that churn up the lake water, mixing it together from top to bottom in a process known as Spring Turnover. The water column ends up with a uniform (and cold) temperature and the oxygen profile is similarly homogenous. Then throughout the course of the summer, the lake water stratifies with the surface warming up while remaining cold down below the thermocline. Then same turnover thing happens in the Fall, mixing the water once again. It’s an endless cycle: Spring turnover, Summer Stratification, and Fall turnover. 

This video not only shows this turnover process taking place, you can also see the lines of white froth resulting from Langmuir Rotation.

2 thoughts on “7 April 2023: Spring Turnover and More!

  1. David Knight

    It also does that 5 minutes after I launch my boat and want to take friends for a ride at sunset!! 😉

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