Stream temperatures integrate landscape influences and can be valuable in identifying sources, residence times and interchanges of stream water within landscapes, as well as coarse changes in riparian shading. We suggest that differences of daily maximum and minimum temperatures at upstream and downstream sites can suggest types of intervening influences between those points. Geomorphic factors, such as substrate type, hyporheic flowpaths and groundwater inputs, often have specific and identifiable impacts on stream temperatures. For example, bedrock reaches tend to have wide diurnal temperature fluctuations, with high maxima and low minima.  Reaches with a large proportion of flow through the hyporheos have damped diurnal fluctuations, and the daily mean temperature remains similar to that observed upstream. However, groundwater inputs often lower the thermograph, with decreases in both maximum and minimum temperatures. And changes in biotic factors longitudinally, such as gaps in riparian vegetation, often result in increased maximum as well as minimum temperatures. Comparisons of diurnal patterns provide a different type of information about streams than typical metrics of maximum or mean and can be useful in predicting sensitivity to land use changes, disturbance or restoration activities.