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Lake Tahoe weather: More rain in forecast after recent 11 billion-gallon dump

Staff report

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE — Lake Tahoe rose 3 inches thanks to a generous dumping of rain two weekends ago, and more precipitation is coming as November nears.

Six inches of rain fell in Lake Tahoe, as measured at the South Shore on Oct. 17, the US National Weather Service in Reno reported, translating to a deposit of roughly 33,660 acre-feet of water — or 11 billion gallons.

“For reference, that’s roughly equivalent to the average total consumptive water use in a year from the Truckee River by the Truckee Meadows Water Authority,” the agency wrote on Facebook. “The average metered household in the Truckee Meadows uses about 121,000 gallons a year.”



The majority of the water came from direct rainfall on the lake, versus runoff input to the lake, thanks to a series of wet and windy storms that hammered the Sierra from Oct. 14-17.

Despite the much-needed rainfall, the lake level still remains around 2.5 inches below the natural rim of 6,223 feet.



Meanwhile, according to NWS, more rain — and perhaps some high-elevation snow — is in the forecast this coming weekend heading into Halloween.

“Another low pressure disturbance will move into CA Thursday night into Friday, picking up subtropical moisture ahead of it and bringing it into the Sierra and western NV by early Friday,” according to a long-term forecast for the Reno-Tahoe region. “Storm total precipitation could be significant for the Sierra, with some models showing over one inch of (precipitation) from the Tahoe Basin down into Mono County.

“Snow levels look to remain above 9,500 feet for this storm, with only the highest elevation of the Sierra seeing snow.”

As this week progresses, the weekend forecast is expected to take a more-clear shape.


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