Partial boil - thermometer mistake

I decided to try a partial boil and everything was great until I finished the boil and added the cold bottled water to bring it up to 5gal.

That's when I realized the water level during my boil (and more importantly, while my grains were steeping) was BELOW the thermometer...

If I removed my grains when the thermometer said 170 degrees (air temp just above water level) how much hotter was the water? How bad is it to steep your grains at 175? 180? 185? etc...

Oh the pot was covered with a lid the whole time.

If the pot was covered, the air was pretty close to the water temp. So, relax. Because A) you're probably fine, and B) there's nothing you can do about it now!

You're fine. RDWHAHB