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Analysis of a 39‐yr record (1969–2008) of temperature profiles from Lake Kinneret, Israel, revealed that average epilimnion thickness decreased by ∼ 1.2 m (∼ 3 cm yr⁻¹), metalimnion thickness decreased by between ∼ 1.0 m (December) and ∼ 2.0 m (April), and average temperature of the epilimnion increased by ∼ 1°C (∼ 0.028°C yr⁻¹). Average hypolimnetic temperature remained constant (∼ 15°C), so that the thermal gradient across the metalimnion increased. The average duration of the stratification period (∼ 286 d) remained unchanged. We show that the stratification changes were the result of a decrease in lake level, a slight increase in air temperature during the spring and summer, and a reduction of inflows to the lake. These changes in time affected the stratification pattern in the same direction, i.e., an increase in the lake epilimnetic temperature and an increase in the thermal gradient across the …