Industry News
Lake Tahoe, CA/NV is currently 5-feet above its natural rim and the Truckee river is flooding and well over the bike path in many areas.
The Lake Tahoe dam will only allow for 6-feet above Lake Tahoe’s natural rim so we are getting very close to its limit…
Lake Tahoe has risen 1.5″ just since yesterday… Our snow is melting very fast up here, which isn’t a problem, because there’s still so much of it.
Tahoe City saw 200% of average precipitation this season.
Squaw Valley has seen 721″ of snowfall this season and they average 450″ of snowfall per season.
Northern California is currently having its wettest (most precip.) water year on record and the water year doesn’t end until September 30th, 2017.
Current Lake Tahoe Stats:
- Current Water Level = 6,227.93′
- Legal Limit = 6,229.1′
- Natural Rim = 6,223′
- Water Temp = 47ºF
- Total Snow fall in Tahoe City, CA: 249″
- Cubic Feet per Second = 1280cfs (9,574 gallons per second)
- Feet Higher Than This Date Last Year = 4.41′
FUN FACTS:
- If you stacked Lake Tahoe’s water in a column that was 1 acre by 1 acre it would be as tall as 3 earths stacked on top of each other.
- If you poured Lake Tahoe onto California, it would cover the state in 1.16-feet of water.
Is any special action required if the Lake reaches or surpasses the legal limit?
You might want to invest in a boat or flotation device of some sort.
Not sure, but if it goes above the legal limit, maybe the dam would be breached? If breached, it could break…
They start releasing at a higher rate to get it back down to the legal limit. The dam can actually hold a fair bit of water beyond the legal limit, but the limit has more to do with shoreline erosion and property damage.
Solid info, thanks, Aidan.
Snowfall totals not making sense. We are in 2017. ???
I hear ya. I think these guys go by “water years” and the 2016 water year may go from: October 1st, 2016 – September 30th, 2017 and I think these guys call that the 2016 water year thus 249″ in the 2016 water year.
That wouldn’t make sense either, they show 2011 as a big year, but 2011-12 was certainly not bigger than this winter.
Touché! Yeah, now I’m with you… Confused.. good call.