On August 27, 2026, a federal order directed US agencies to start calling this lake “Lake America.” New York and Canada are keeping “Lake Ontario.” Read what changed

LO Lake Ontario also known as Lake America

Conditions

Lake Ontario (Lake America) Conditions Today

Lake Ontario (Lake America) conditions data helps swimmers, boaters, and anglers plan their time on the water. This hub shows live water temperature, the current lake level in feet (referenced to IGLD85, the Great Lakes standard datum), wave height, wind speed, and seasonal ice cover from public NOAA stations and forecasts. Water temperature matters for safety and fishing season timing. Wave and wind forecasts help boaters decide whether conditions are safe before heading into open water. Each measurement below links to its own detailed page with methodology notes and source credits.

Water Temperature

NOAA NDBC Buoy 45012, East Lake Ontario

Water Level

NOAA CO-OPS, 30 day trend, IGLD85

Waves & Wind

NWS open lake marine forecast, NOAA NDBC Buoy 45012

Ice Cover Seasonal

See ice cover page

NOAA GLERL, winter season only

Water Temperature, full page→ Water Level, 30 day trend→ Waves & Marine Forecast→ Ice Cover→

How the marine forecast works on this site

NWS Buffalo (BUF) issues the marine forecast for Lake Ontario across 9 open-lake zones (LOZ030, LOZ042 through LOZ045, and LOZ062 through LOZ065). As of this research, api.weather.gov does not yet serve a marine zone forecast endpoint directly, so the worker falls back to the nearest onshore grid forecast for wind and weather, plus the current buoy reading for wave height, and links out to the full NWS marine forecast text.

Source: api.weather.gov zone and office data, NWS Buffalo (BUF)