Lake Illawarra Sea Temperature

Looking to find out what the sea water temperature in Lake Illawarra is for today and the next few days? Below are data and charts that will give you information about sea temperatures in Lake Illawarra and nearby locations.

Water temperature in Lake Illawarra right now

Below is the current sea temperature for Lake Illawarra, Australia on 19th May 2024.

20.49° C

(68.87° F)

  • yesterday: 20.55° C (68.98° F)
  • a week ago: 21.63° C (70.93° F)

Water at this temperature is very pleasant to swim in and if you tend to wear a wetsuit when swimming, you might consider removing it now to avoid the body overheating.

The average sea temperature for Lake Illawarra on May 19th over the last 10 years is 20.87° C (69.56° F), with a low temperature of 19.05° C (66.29° F) and a high of 22.87° C (73.17° F).

Analysis and forecast for Lake Illawarra water temperatures

The water temperature in Lake Illawarra today is lower than the average temperature of 20.87° C (69.56° F) and the temperature on this day last year, 19th May 2023, was 20.42° C (68.76° F).

The chart and table below shows the change in water temperature in Lake Illawarra over the last 30 days:

Date Temperature (Celsius) Temperature (Fahrenheit)
May 19 20.49° C 68.87° F
May 18 20.55° C 68.98° F
May 17 21.07° C 69.93° F
May 16 21.35° C 70.43° F
May 15 21.37° C 70.47° F
May 14 21.19° C 70.14° F
May 13 21.14° C 70.05° F
May 12 21.63° C 70.93° F
May 11 22.31° C 72.16° F
May 10 21.88° C 71.38° F
May 9 21.94° C 71.49° F
May 8 21.84° C 71.31° F
May 7 21.99° C 71.58° F
May 6 21.99° C 71.58° F
May 5 22.2° C 71.96° F
May 4 22.11° C 71.8° F
May 3 21.77° C 71.19° F
May 2 21.96° C 71.53° F
May 1 21.96° C 71.53° F
April 30 21.9° C 71.42° F
April 29 21.94° C 71.49° F
April 28 21.89° C 71.4° F
April 27 21.72° C 71.1° F
April 26 21.63° C 70.93° F
April 25 21.55° C 70.79° F
April 24 21.37° C 70.47° F
April 23 21.44° C 70.59° F
April 22 21.36° C 70.45° F
April 21 21.27° C 70.29° F
April 20 21.3° C 70.34° F
April 19 21.2° C 70.16° F

The actual nearshore temperatures may vary by several degrees and this can also be heavily affected by weather. Strong winds can cause cold, deep waters to replace the surface waters that had been warmed by the sun, and heavy rain can also reduce the temperature of the sea surface temperature as well.

Water temperature in Lake Illawarra by month

The chart below shows the monthly average water temperature in Lake Illawarra.

For more detailed information on how the sea temperature in Lake Illawarra changes for each month of the year, choose from the months below.

Lake Illawarra map and nearby water temperatures

Locations near Lake Illawarra

The highest temperature in Australia today is 28.67° C (83.6° F) in Darwin. The lowest is in Granton, where the temperature of the water is 14.64° C (58.34° F).

Why measure sea surface temperatures (SST) in Lake Illawarra?

The ocean covers about 71% of the Earth's surface, and scientists record the sea surface temperature (SST) of locations such as Lake Illawarra because they want to understand and learn how the ocean communicates with the atomosphere of Earth.

SST is one measure that provides information on the global climate, and it can be used to predict the weather in Lake Illawarra as well as atmospheric model simulations and to study marine ecosystems in the area.

Data source and citation

Raw data for the calculations made to find the sea surface temperature in Lake Illawarra comes from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and their 1/4° daily Optimum Interpolation Sea Surface Temperature.

The water temperature data is constructed by combining observations from different platforms (satellites, ships, buoys, and Argo floats) on a regular global grid. A spatially complete sea surface temperature map is then built by interpolating to fill in gaps in the data.

If you'd like to use any of the information above in the format it is presented, please use the citation tool below.

  • "Lake Illawarra Sea Temperature". SeaTemperatures.net. Accessed on May 19, 2024. http://seatemperatures.net/australia-and-oceania/australia/lake-illawarra/.

  • "Lake Illawarra Sea Temperature". SeaTemperatures.net, http://seatemperatures.net/australia-and-oceania/australia/lake-illawarra/. Accessed 19 May, 2024

  • Lake Illawarra Sea Temperature. SeaTemperatures.net. Retrieved from http://seatemperatures.net/australia-and-oceania/australia/lake-illawarra/.