Pool season · California
Merced Pool Season: the Year on One Bar
Last updated: July 15, 2026 · dates · water temp
This is the one-page view of Merced's pool year: both model windows, the estimated water-temperature curve, and today's live position on the season bar. The detailed checklists live on the opening and closing guides; this page is the calendar you check between them.
The bar compresses Merced's whole pool year into one lane rope: gray floats for the off-season, hollow teal for the April 3–April 24 opening window, solid teal for swim weeks, hollow amber for the closing stretch that ends November 2. Wherever the today marker sits, the nearest color change is your next appointment.
The Merced pool calendar
Opening — target April 10
Target April 10; the practical window runs April 3–April 24, and the 7-day mean crosses the 61°F threshold around April 24. Cold-water starts are the cheap ones.
Closing — deadline November 2
The window opens October 23 once water leaves the algae zone; the model deadline is November 2, a week ahead of the November 24 freeze normal.
Estimated water temperature by month
Monthly averages of the site's water model run on Merced's own normals — the shape of a typical year, not a forecast. The widget above shows where the current year actually sits.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45° | 48° | 53° | 57° | 63° | 70° | 77° | 78° | 75° | 68° | 58° | 48° |
Warmest water typically August–August (peaking near 79°F); heaters and covers shift any month up.
Email me when Merced hits the closing window
Data: NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals via Merced (2.4 mi); live outlook by Open-Meteo. Attribution: sources · assumptions: methodology.