Disclaimer

All data is from public sources

Every value displayed on Lakebrief comes from a third-party public data source. Wind and weather are pulled from Open-Meteo, which aggregates the ECMWF, NOAA GFS HRRR, and DWD ICON numerical weather models. Water-level readings come from USGS Water Services gauges, where the operating agency publishes one. Active alerts come from the National Weather Service and from public state-park advisory pages checked on a 30-minute schedule.

Lakebrief does not generate, validate, or vouch for any of this data. We surface it. The original publishers — USGS, NWS, the operating agencies — are the authoritative source. If a number here disagrees with what your local park office tells you on the phone, the park office is correct.

No accuracy guarantee

Public data has well-documented failure modes. USGS gauges go offline for maintenance or after equipment damage. Forecast models disagree, especially in convective weather. State-park advisory pages get edited slowly relative to actual ground conditions. The dashboard's "live" reading may be the last successful fetch, not a reading from this minute. Lakebrief makes a best effort to flag stale data but cannot eliminate it.

The sailing score is a derived metric — a small-craft go/no-go signal computed from wind, gusts, water level, and rain. It is an opinion, not a measurement. Conditions on inland lakes change fast; a thermal that ramps from 12 kt to 22 kt in twenty minutes will not be reflected in the score until the next data refresh. Always look at the actual water before you launch.

No liability

Lakebrief is provided "as is" with no warranty of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. The site's operators are not responsible for decisions made on the basis of information shown here. By using the site you accept that any reliance you place on the data is your own decision and at your own risk.

Boating involves real, sometimes life-threatening risk. Always:

• Check the operating agency's posted advisories at the launch ramp.
• Consult the National Weather Service marine or land-zone forecast for your area.
• File a float plan with someone ashore.
• Wear a personal flotation device.
• Use your own judgment, training, and experience to assess go/no-go.

Analytics and cookies

Lakebrief uses two analytics services to understand site traffic: Vercel Web Analytics (cookieless) and Google Analytics 4, which sets _ga and _ga_* cookies on your browser. These services tell us which lakes and pages are getting the most visits so we know where to spend effort. We do not sell or share this data with third parties beyond the analytics providers themselves.

To opt out of Google Analytics, install the Google Analytics Opt-Out Browser Add-on or use any tracker-blocking extension (uBlock Origin, Privacy Badger). Lakebrief works fully without analytics enabled.

Trademarks and citations

USGS, NWS, NOAA, NJDEP, USACE, and other agency names referenced on Lakebrief are trademarks of their respective owners and are used here for identification only. Lakebrief is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any of these agencies.

For more on how the site works, see the About page; for definitions of terms used in the dashboard, see the glossary.