Lake water has its own kind of seasonal weather pattern. As temperatures warm or cool in the spring or fall, lakes such as Smith Mountain Lake experience lake turnover. Southwestern Virginia is experiencing an early rise in temperatures this late winter/early spring, meaning the spring lake turnover may already be underway. As the National Geographic educational page on Lake Turnover illustrates, summer’s warm temperatures heat the top layer of water in a lake, causing it to be less dense than the coldest layer lying at the bottom depth. In Fall, cooling temperatures means a cooling lake surface, causing the layer to drop down through the others. In Spring, the adverse happens as the surface warms, winds stir up the waters and temperatures change and the layers mix once again.
For more information on Lake Turnover, visit one of these two educational sites.
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/lakes/faqs.html
http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/multimedia/lake-turnover/?ar_a=1
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