The National Weather Service has begun the work of renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America in its broad array of products and services, including maps, websites and forecasts, the agency announced Sept. 14.
Among the weather service products that use the name "Lake Ontario" are open waters forecasts, forecasts for the Niagara River and the surrounding region in New York.
Lake Ontario is part of the formal international boundary between Canada and the United States. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Aug. 27 directing U.S. agencies to change the name of Lake Ontario during a round of trade negotiations with Canada.
As recently as Sept. 13, the name "Lake Ontario" was still being used in the forecast discussion of the weather service office in Buffalo. It noted that a few showers were possible "southeast of Lake Ontario during the predawn hours of Monday morning."