Lake surface water temperature (LSWT) is a critical physical property of the aquatic ecosystem and an indicator of climate change. By combining the strengths of satellites and models, we produced an integrated dataset on daily LSWT of 160 large lakes across the Tibetan Plateau (TP) for the period 1978–2017. LSWT increased significantly at a rate of 0.01–0.47° per 10 years. The dataset can contribute to research on water and heat balance changes and their ecological effects in the TP.