Reservoir · Norway
Norsjø
Lake in Midt-Telemark, Nome and Skien, Telemark, Norway
- Area
- 55.1km²
- Max depth
- 171m
- Average depth
- 47m
- Elevation
- 17m a.s.l.
- Shoreline
- 125km
- Volume
- 2.6km³
Norsjø is a reservoir in Norway. It covers 55.1 km². On average it is 47 m deep, and 171 m at its deepest point. Its surface lies 17 m above sea level.
Plan your visit
Stay, sail and get there
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The water
How warm is Norsjø?
The water is warmest in August, around 18 °C at the surface, and coldest in February, around 1 °C. It rarely averages 20 °C, but it stays above 17 °C from July to August: brisk, refreshing swimming.
It does not normally freeze in winter.
On the shore, afternoons reach 19 °C on average in July and -3 °C in January. The driest month is March (72 mm of rain), the wettest October (137 mm).
Average surface temperature measured by the Landsat 8 satellite between 2013 and 2021 at the point furthest from the shore (166 readings). Shallow bays and beaches are often warmer.
From above
The whole lake from space
Month by month
The year at the lake, month by month
Not a forecast: these are averages over many years. Water is the 2013–2021 average; air, rain, sun and wind are the 1991–2020 average.
Water: 2013–2021 averageClimate: 1991–2020 average
| Month | Water°C | Water high°C | Air high°C | Air low°C | Rainmm | Rainy daysdays | Sunh/day | Windkm/h |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2 | 2 | -3 | -8 | 103 | 15 | 0.6 | 8 |
| February | 1 | 1 | -2 | -8 | 78 | 13 | 2.2 | 8 |
| March | 1 | 2 | 1 | -6 | 72 | 12 | 5.1 | 7 |
| April | 3 | 5 | 7 | -1 | 78 | 12 | 6.9 | 7 |
| May | 8 | 11 | 13 | 4 | 107 | 14 | 7.6 | 7 |
| June | 14 | 16 | 17 | 8 | 110 | 14 | 9.0 | 7 |
| July | 18 | 19 | 19 | 11 | 128 | 17 | 7.6 | 6 |
| August | 18 | 19 | 18 | 10 | 136 | 17 | 6.3 | 6 |
| September | 15 | 17 | 14 | 6 | 119 | 14 | 4.6 | 7 |
| October | 10 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 137 | 16 | 2.5 | 7 |
| November | 6 | 8 | 1 | -3 | 122 | 16 | 1.1 | 7 |
| December | 4 | 4 | -2 | -7 | 101 | 15 | 0.5 | 8 |
Water: LakeTEMP (Landsat 8, 2013–2021). Air, rain, sun and wind: NASA POWER, 1991–2020 averages. A rainy day has at least 1 mm of rain. Sunshine hours are derived from measured solar radiation.
Size & depth
How big, how deep
- On average, water stays in the lake for about 4 months before flowing out.
- Its catchment drains 10,320 km² of land.
- About 220 m³ of water flow out every second, on average.
- Its shoreline is 4.8 times longer than a circle of the same area: plenty of bays and inlets.
Around the shore
What's around Norsjø
Counted within 1.5 km of the shoreline in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit.
- 7beaches and swimming spots
Dilsdalstranda, Ulefoss and 5 more
- 3campsites
Gåsodden Camping, Norsjø Ferieland, Teksten Barnas Camping
- 1boat hire and water-sport clubs
- 10marinas and slipways
Valebø brygge, Fjærekilen, Valebø, Nordsjø Ferieland gjestebrygge, Løveid sluse gjestehavn and 5 more
- 3ferry piers
Akkerhaugen brygge, Norsjø Ferieland, Løveid
- 6viewpoints
Fantekjerringkollen, Meierkollen, Årnesbukta fugletårn, Mikaelshulen and 2 more
- 3hotels, B&Bs and chalets
Osdalen, Norsjøtunet, Norsjø hotell
- —fishing spots
- 6restaurants and cafés
Towns on the shore
- Ulefoss2,697 people
- Gvarv871 people
Nearest airport with scheduled flights: Sandefjord Airport, Torp (TRF), 60 km in a straight line.
Car hire at TRF airport (Sandefjord)Discover Cars · Affiliate linkOpenStreetMap is built by volunteers: when a number is low, it may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.
Recent years
How each month compared
Afternoon high on the shore. The first row is the reference, the 1991–2020 average in °C; the years below show the difference from it: warmer in orange, cooler in blue.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991–2020 average | -3.1 | -2.4 | 1.0 | 7.1 | 13.3 | 17.4 | 19.3 | 17.9 | 13.5 | 6.9 | 1.4 | -2.2 |
| 2020 | +4.2 | +3.5 | +1.4 | +1.0 | −1.5 | +2.4 | −2.7 | +1.4 | +0.3 | +1.2 | +3.6 | +1.9 |
| 2021 | −3.6 | −2.4 | +0.5 | −0.6 | −1.5 | +2.3 | +1.9 | −0.3 | +1.0 | +2.1 | +1.0 | −2.4 |
| 2022 | +2.4 | +2.1 | +3.1 | +0.8 | ±0.0 | +1.2 | ±0.0 | +1.3 | −0.2 | +2.1 | +2.3 | −2.8 |
| 2023 | +0.4 | +2.4 | −1.8 | −1.5 | +0.4 | +3.6 | −1.9 | −0.4 | +2.6 | −1.1 | −4.1 | −3.3 |
| 2024 | −1.7 | +0.1 | −0.5 | −1.7 | +4.1 | −0.4 | −0.8 | −0.2 | +1.5 | +2.1 | +1.4 | +2.3 |
| 2025 | +0.1 | +0.6 | +4.0 | +4.7 | +1.3 | −0.2 | +2.7 | +0.1 | +0.5 | +1.6 | +1.7 | +2.9 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
About these numbers
| Outline, area, depth, volume | HydroLAKES v1.0 (Messager et al. 2016) · CC BY 4.0 |
|---|---|
| Water temperature and ice | LakeTEMP v1 (Korver et al. 2024), Landsat 8 2013–2021 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Air, rain, sun, wind | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 · public domain |
| Names and description | Wikidata (Q175674) · CC0 |
| Around the shore | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
Every figure is an average or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
