Lake Champlain lake and shoreline

About Lake Champlain

New YorkVermont

Lake Champlain is a natural lake with management context from International / interstate coordination; no single storage dam on the main lake. Lake Insights displays its latest available elevation from NOAA / National Weather Service — Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service.

Lake Status

7-day trend
Falling
7-day change
Down 0.10 ft
30-day change
Down 0.72 ft
Last updated
1 hour ago

Watershed drought conditions

Essex County, NY · surrounding county from lake location

No Drought

No official drought conditions.

Severity

NoneExtreme

Weekly trend

Stable

Compared with last week

Official drought

No

Current conditions are classified as Abnormally Dry (D0), which is not considered official drought.

U.S. Drought Monitor · map date Sep 22, 2026. Updated weekly. droughtmonitor.unl.eduView drought map for Essex County, NY

Key Facts

Waterbody / project type

Natural lake

Current-level source

NOAA / National Weather Service — Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service

Why the level can change

General factors for natural lakes like this

These are common influences for this type of lake. They do not identify the cause of a specific current change unless an operator update confirms it.

  • Rainfall & runoff

    Rain on the lake and watershed runoff can raise natural lake levels over time.

  • Inflows & outflows

    Tributaries, connecting waterways, and outlets move water into and out of the lake.

  • Evaporation & seasonal weather

    Warm, dry, and windy periods can increase evaporation and contribute to seasonal level change.

  • Ice, wind & seiches

    On larger natural lakes, wind setup, seiches, and ice conditions can temporarily change local water-surface elevation.

Current data source

Managing authority: International / interstate coordination; no single storage dam on the main lake

Observation source used by Lake Insights: NOAA / National Weather Service — Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service

Who manages the lake and who publishes the reading Lake Insights displays can differ. Lake Insights does not invent a source label from the managing authority alone.

General education

Shared background — not lake-specific facts

Lake Insights aggregates water level information from authoritative public sources such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, NOAA, TVA, Bureau of Reclamation, power utilities, and other official lake operators. We preserve historical observations, calculate trends, and present lake conditions in a consistent format. For NOAA / National Weather Service — Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service, we link to the official source whenever it is available. Lake Insights does not predict future lake levels unless an official forecast has been published by the managing authority.

How we source lake data · Glossary

Common questions about Lake Champlain

Who manages Lake Champlain?
Lake Champlain is managed by International / interstate coordination; no single storage dam on the main lake. Lake Insights reports published gauge readings; it does not operate the waterbody.
Where does Lake Insights get the level reading for Lake Champlain?
Lake Insights displays the latest available elevation for Lake Champlain from NOAA / National Weather Service — Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service. The managing authority (International / interstate coordination; no single storage dam on the main lake) may differ from the agency that publishes the observation used on this page.

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