Cyanobacteria in North Carolina.
32 lakes in North Carolina are large enough for this satellite to read. 27 of them could actually be assessed for the week ending 2026-08-29; 5 could not. 14 of the assessed lakes are elevated or high. Every figure below divides by the lakes that could be assessed, never by all 32.
Lakes across North Carolina.
One mark per lake, coloured by the cyanobacteria index over the part of the lake the satellite could read. Hollow rings are lakes with no reading at all.
- High7
- Elevated7
- Below detection13
- Not assessable5
Readings below roughly 10,000 estimated cells/mL are beneath the sensor’s detection limit. That is “we could not see anything”, not “there is nothing there” — those lakes are not verified clear.
Reading highest in North Carolina.
The 7-day composite for 2026-08-23 to 2026-08-29. Densities are estimates converted from a pigment index and carry roughly 29% mean absolute percentage error — read them as figures with real spread, not measurements.
| Lake | Estimated density | Extent | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unnamed lake · COMID 166737717 | ~238k cells/mL (estimated) | 88% of the lake52 of 65 pixels readable (80%) | High |
| Unnamed lake · COMID 166737840 | ~205k cells/mL (estimated) | 56% of the lake87 of 90 pixels readable (97%) | High |
| Unnamed lake · COMID 166755034 | ~905k cells/mL (estimated) | 98% of the lake414 of 414 pixels readable (100%) | High |
| Unnamed lake · COMID 166755060 | ~276k cells/mL (estimated) | 85% of the lake108 of 108 pixels readable (100%) | High |
| Lake Mattamuskeet | ~1.3 million cells/mL (estimated) | 100% of the lake958 of 958 pixels readable (100%) | High |
| Little Singletary Lake | ~21k cells/mL (estimated) | 50% of the lake6 of 6 pixels readable (100%) | Highnear a band edge |
| New Lake | ~87k cells/mL (estimated) | 84% of the lake130 of 133 pixels readable (98%) | Highnear a band edge |
| Unnamed lake · COMID 8813673 | ~133k cells/mL (estimated) | 13% of the lake32 of 32 pixels readable (100%) | Elevated |
| Unnamed lake · COMID 8842671 | ~29k cells/mL (estimated) | 33% of the lake3 of 3 pixels readable (100%) | Elevated |
| Unnamed lake · COMID 167496465 | ~74k cells/mL (estimated) | 23% of the lake380 of 391 pixels readable (97%) | Elevated |
| Little Lake | ~126k cells/mL (estimated) | 25% of the lake4 of 4 pixels readable (100%) | Elevatednear a band edge |
| Phelps Lake | ~145k cells/mL (estimated) | 36% of the lake581 of 581 pixels readable (100%) | Elevated |
Showing 12 of 14 lakes reading elevated or high in North Carolina. The national map is searchable by lake name.
What this map does not tell you.
Every one of these applies to North Carolina exactly as it applies to the national map. They are here in full rather than as a link, because this is the page people land on.
This map is a pre-screening indicator that says where to look. It is not a health assessment and it is not a substitute for your state’s cyanobacteria advisory — your state programme is the authority on whether a lake is safe to swim in, drink from, or fish.
A satellite reads only the surface — the top of the water column. Wind mixes a bloom down through the lake, so a bloom that is genuinely present can be missed entirely, and this map can read clear on a day a lake is not. That is the failure direction that matters: an absent reading is never evidence of clear water.
The index measures a pigment common to cyanobacteria. It cannot distinguish a toxic bloom from a harmless one, and it says nothing whatever about microcystin or any other toxin. Only sampling the water can answer that.
Readings below roughly 10,000 estimated cells/mL are beneath the sensor’s detection limit. That is “we could not see anything”, not “there is nothing there” — those lakes are not verified clear.
Cell densities are converted from a pigment index, not counted. The published conversion carries roughly 29% mean absolute percentage error, so treat every figure here as an estimate with real spread around it rather than a measurement.
Cyanobacteria are bacteria, not algae, despite “blue-green algae” being the common name. The distinction matters because the toxins that make a bloom dangerous are bacterial, and treatments and advisories written for algae do not necessarily apply.
The underlying product is published by NASA as preliminary and for evaluation purposes only. It has not been through the validation an operational product would carry.
The sensor resolves at 300 m, and a lake needs a few clear water pixels away from its own shoreline to be read at all — roughly 900 m across. Smaller lakes and most rivers are absent from this map entirely, which says nothing about their condition.
This map has not been validated against state advisory records. Published agreement figures for satellite cyanobacteria screening come from the research literature and describe other lakes in other seasons — not this map’s performance, which nobody has measured yet.
North Carolina's own programme.
The authority on whether a lake in North Carolina is safe to swim in, drink from or fish. Not this map.
North Carolina publishes its own cyanobacteria guidance and advisories. Check it before using any water — advisories are issued from samples taken in the water, which is something no satellite can do.
See North Carolina on the live map.
This page is a still frame. The national map is interactive — pan, zoom, filter, and read every record behind what you see here.
NASA and EPA’s satellites read a pigment index over roughly 2,300 U.S. lakes large enough to resolve at 300 m. A pre-screening indicator, not a health assessment, and never a substitute for your state’s advisory.
More on North Carolina.
Every Driftwise public map covers North Carolina. No login, no paywall.
Watershed Explorer
Click any point in the country and read what six federal datasets say about it — flow, drought, fire, flood forecast, satellite cyanobacteria screening and Clean Water Act impairment — each one labelled with what it is actually a fact about.
Wildfire & Smoke Map — North Carolina
Official NIFC fire perimeters and incident points under NOAA’s HRRR-Smoke near-surface forecast, filterable by size, state, and containment.
Streamflow Map — North Carolina
Every reporting USGS stream gauge in the country, coloured by how today’s flow ranks against that gauge’s own record for this calendar day.
U.S. Drought Map — North Carolina
The U.S. Drought Monitor — the country’s official weekly drought assessment — drawn across five severity categories from D0 to D4.
Flood Outlook Map — North Carolina
NOAA’s river forecast centres call the next few days at every forecast gauge in the country, on the National Weather Service’s own flood categories — action, minor, moderate and major.
Impaired Waters Map — North Carolina
Every subwatershed in the country against the states’ own Clean Water Act assessments — what is impaired, what is still on the 303(d) list, what is causing it, and how much of the country nobody has assessed at all.
Critical Habitat & Protected Waters Map — North Carolina
Every river and stream the federal government has designated as ESA critical habitat, the listed species each unit is designated for, and who manages the protected land around it.
Lake cyanobacteria by state.
Every state, with the number of lakes large enough for this satellite to read. The national map covers all of them at once.
- Alabama19 lakes
- Alaskano resolvable lakes
- Arizona10 lakes
- Arkansas31 lakes
- California93 lakes
- Colorado53 lakes
- Connecticut4 lakes
- Delawareno resolvable lakes
- District of Columbiano resolvable lakes
- Florida134 lakes
- Georgia16 lakes
- Hawaiino resolvable lakes
- Idaho36 lakes
- Illinois21 lakes
- Indiana17 lakes
- Iowa13 lakes
- Kansas28 lakes
- Kentucky7 lakes
- Louisiana97 lakes
- Maine201 lakes
- Maryland4 lakes
- Massachusetts5 lakes
- Michigan138 lakes
- Minnesota418 lakes
- Mississippi19 lakes
- Missouri13 lakes
- Montana49 lakes
- Nebraska26 lakes
- Nevada12 lakes
- New Hampshire24 lakes
- New Jersey8 lakes
- New Mexico16 lakes
- New York76 lakes
- North Carolina32 lakes
- North Dakota85 lakes
- Ohio20 lakes
- Oklahoma53 lakes
- Oregon56 lakes
- Pennsylvania12 lakes
- Puerto Ricono resolvable lakes
- Rhode Island4 lakes
- South Carolina17 lakes
- South Dakota82 lakes
- Tennessee26 lakes
- Texas139 lakes
- Utah25 lakes
- Vermont19 lakes
- Virginia8 lakes
- Washington51 lakes
- West Virginiano resolvable lakes
- Wisconsin134 lakes
- Wyoming46 lakes
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