Lake Tahoe, CA/NV’s water level has risen to within 2.16″ of its legal limit of 6-feet above its natural rim.
Between June 16th and June 24th, Lake Tahoe saw a staggering 4″ water level rise as 12 billion gallons of water flowed into the lake during that timespan.
U.S. District Court water officials expect Lake Tahoe to fill to the legal limit in mid-July 2017, which hasn’t happened in 11 years (1997 flood).
Lake Tahoe’s water level is controlled at the Tahoe City Dam, its only outlet. The legal limit for water above the natural rim at that dam is 6,229.1′. Tahoe’s current water level is at 6,228.92′, only 2.16″ below the legal limit.
California experienced a ferocious heat wave last week with temperatures as high as 108ºF in the nearby Sacramnto Valley. This heat produced large scale snowmelt the rushed into Lake Tahoe via its 63 inlets.
This rush of heat wave triggered snowmelt caused a 4″ rise in Lake Tahoe’s water level in just 8 days between June 16th and June 23rd, 2017.
In the past 30 years, Lake Tahoe has fluctuated between 6,220.26′ and 6.229.39′. That high mark being the 1997 flood.
In December, Lake Tahoe was sitting at only 6,223.04′. The lake has risen over 6 feet in the past 6 months.
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“U.S. District Court water officials expect Lake Tahoe to fill to the legal limit in mid-July 2017, which hasn’t happened in 11 years (1997 flood).”
… I’m not a math major, but pretty sure 1997 wasn’t 11 years ago.