Photo Evidence That Lake Tahoe is 1.4″ Above Its Rim & The Truckee River is Flowing:

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The Truckee River is barely flowing. Tahoe is .12 feet above its rim. photo: snowbrains, yesterday
The Truckee River is barely flowing. Tahoe is .12 feet above its rim. photo: snowbrains, yesterday
Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe, yesterday.   photo:  snowbrains, yesterday
Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe, yesterday. photo: snowbrains, yesterday

The natural rim of Lake Tahoe is 6,223 feet above sea level. 

Lake Tahoe’s level as of yesterday is 6,223.17 feet.  This means that Tahoe is only 0.17 feet (1.44″) above its natural rim, but it’s enough to get the Truckee River, Tahoe’s only outlet, flowing for the first time since June 2015.

We cruised down to Lake Tahoe’s outlet in Tahoe City yesterday to grab some photos of the Truckee River flowing and gather the data that the dam master posts on the dam.

Lake Tahoe = 

  • 6,223.12′ above sea level
  • 0.12′ above its natural rim 
  • Gates open in dam in Tahoe City = 1
  • Discharge into Truckee River = 3.5 cubic feet per second (or 26.18 gallons per second)
  • 397,538,220 gallons of water evaporate off Lake Tahoe every day
  • The average time a molecule of water spends in Lake Tahoe is 700 years
  • It takes 3 days at 200 cfs to get Lake Tahoe to lower 1/100 of a foot
  • Historic maximum 6231.17′ in 1907
  • Historic minimum 6220.26′ in 1992
  • Maximum capacity of Lake Tahoe = 40,000,000,000 gallons
  • 132″ of snowfall this winter in Tahoe City, CA

PHOTO TOUR:

Map of Tahoe's outlet in Tahoe City, CA. photo: snowbrains, yesterday
Map of Tahoe’s outlet in Tahoe City, CA. photo: snowbrains, yesterday
 photo: snowbrains, yesterday
Tahoe = 6,223.12 feet above sea level.  photo: snowbrains, yesterday
 photo: snowbrains, yesterday
Yes, lets hope for more winters like 2011!  photo: snowbrains, yesterday
The Truckee River is barely flowing. Tahoe is .12 feet above its rim. photo: snowbrains, yesterday
The Truckee River is barely flowing. Tahoe is .12 feet above its rim. photo: snowbrains, yesterday
 photo: snowbrains, yesterday
397,538,220 gallons of water evaporate off Lake Tahoe every day.  photo: snowbrains, yesterday
 photo: snowbrains, yesterday
photo: snowbrains, yesterday
 photo: snowbrains, yesterday
photo: snowbrains, yesterday

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