Highlights of Lake Tahoe Basin Climate

Joseph Castellanos

Introduction

The mid latitude high elevation setting of the Lake Tahoe Basin brings a wide range of climatic factors into play when analyzing patterns. In this story map the variable climate as well as some of the most influential factors on the variable climate of the Lake Tahoe Basin are highlighted. Climatic features such as Atmospheric rivers area common source of moisture to the west coast of California but the amounts of precipitation they bring are not consistent. Extreme weather patterns such as El Niño influence both temperature and precipitation and cause even more variability. These patterns are discussed in more detail below.

Elevation and Topography of the lake Tahoe Basin

This images displays the varying elevation and topographic features that play a large role in influencing weather patterns. The lake itself is at an elevation of 6,220 feet and surrounding peaks can reach above 10,000 feet. The highest peaks are shown in red and white on the image. These ranges cause orographic lifting and brings plentiful snow to the western faces.

Atmospheric Rivers

Atmospheric rivers carry massive amounts of water across the globe and are one of the common water vapor delivery systems for California and the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. You can think of it quit literally as a long relatively narrow river in the sky. Warm tropical water evaporates in the Pacific and is carried to the west coast. As water vapor reaches the Sierra Nevadas it undergoes orographic lifting to produce ranging amounts of precipitation.

El Niño

 In an El Niño storm winds move the moisture evaporated from the warmer than usual west coast Pacific Ocean currents to the western Sierra Nevada’s. The high moisture content in the air undergoes orographic lifting as it reaches the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas forms clouds and can bring higher than average precipitation to Tahoe as well as slightly warmer temperatures.

Monthly Temperature

It is very interesting to see how weather patterns can shift so drastically from summer to winter. Summer temperatures can range from around 55-65 degrees on average and certainly to reach warmer temps. While winters are cool and wet ranging from <28 - 35 degrees.

Variation in Precipitation

Year to year precipitation amounts in the Lake Tahoe Basin are highly variable due to the varying systems. Semi-permanent high pressure cells may hinder precipitation or massive storms from the pacific may deliver large amounts of rain and snow as seen in 2017. It can be difficult to predict precipitation in the Lake Tahoe Basin due to the number of oceanic and continental factors.

Conclusion

Climate of the Lake Tahoe Basin is highly variable across the board. Precipitation from year to year in not consistent. Atmospheric river moisture content and extreme weather patters such as El Niño are some of the factors that play a role in the variations in precipitation that can be seen on a yearly basis. Elevation and topography are factors that are consistent from year to year and have an influence on precipitation and temperature. Higher elevations will receive more precipitation in the form of snowfall due to cooler temperatures. Summer high pressure systems and the high altitude of the region bring consistently dry warm summer temperatures. Overall winter precipitation as well as temperature is highly variable and summers are relatively stable throughout the Lake Tahoe Basin.

Sources

Backes, T. M., Kaplan, M. L., Schumer, R., & Mejia, J. F. 2015: A Climatology of the Vertical Structure of Water Vapor Transport to the Sierra Nevada in Cool Season Atmospheric River Precipitation Events. Journal of Hydrometeorology., 16(3), 1029–1047. doi:10.1175/jhm-d-14-0077.1

 Lake Tahoe topographic map, elevation, relief. topographic. https://en-gb.topographic-map.com/maps/shan/Lake-Tahoe/ (Accessed June 2, 2020).

NOAA, 2015: What are atmospheric rivers? What are atmospheric rivers? | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. https://www.noaa.gov/stories/what-are-atmospheric-rivers (Accessed June 2, 2020).

UC Davis, 2019: State of the Lake. Tahoe Environmental Research Center. https://tahoe.ucdavis.edu/stateofthelake (Accessed June 2, 2020).

2018: El Niño present in Pacific, could mean drier 2019 for Pacific Northwest. Spudman. https://spudman.com/news/el-nino-dry-pacific-northwest/ (Accessed June 2, 2020).

This images displays the varying elevation and topographic features that play a large role in influencing weather patterns. The lake itself is at an elevation of 6,220 feet and surrounding peaks can reach above 10,000 feet. The highest peaks are shown in red and white on the image. These ranges cause orographic lifting and brings plentiful snow to the western faces.

Atmospheric rivers carry massive amounts of water across the globe and are one of the common water vapor delivery systems for California and the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. You can think of it quit literally as a long relatively narrow river in the sky. Warm tropical water evaporates in the Pacific and is carried to the west coast. As water vapor reaches the Sierra Nevadas it undergoes orographic lifting to produce ranging amounts of precipitation.

 In an El Niño storm winds move the moisture evaporated from the warmer than usual west coast Pacific Ocean currents to the western Sierra Nevada’s. The high moisture content in the air undergoes orographic lifting as it reaches the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas forms clouds and can bring higher than average precipitation to Tahoe as well as slightly warmer temperatures.

It is very interesting to see how weather patterns can shift so drastically from summer to winter. Summer temperatures can range from around 55-65 degrees on average and certainly to reach warmer temps. While winters are cool and wet ranging from <28 - 35 degrees.

Year to year precipitation amounts in the Lake Tahoe Basin are highly variable due to the varying systems. Semi-permanent high pressure cells may hinder precipitation or massive storms from the pacific may deliver large amounts of rain and snow as seen in 2017. It can be difficult to predict precipitation in the Lake Tahoe Basin due to the number of oceanic and continental factors.