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Lake Tahoe West Shore Information | ||
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Cities | |
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California NAME, ZIP, [Mi. Marker] (Population) Brockway, 96143 [10.5] Carnelian Bay, 96140 [6] Echo Lake, 95721 Fallen Leaf, 96151 Homewood, 96141 [66] (271) Kings Beach, 96143 [9] (3,299) Olympic Valley (Squaw Valley), 96146 South Lake Tahoe, 96150 [40-44] (21,586) Tahoe City, 96145 [0/72] (4,744) Tahoe Vista, 96148 [8] (861) Tahoma, 96142 [63.5] (1,065) Truckee, 96160 (9,537) Norden, Soda Springs, Donner Pass(Population) - Note this is permanent population from the Census Bureau. Summer and Winter vacation residents increase this number. e.g. Homewood has 700+ PO Boxes in use durring the summer, which equates to over 1,500 people. |
Nevada Carson City, 89701 (47,200) Crystal Bay, 89402 [11] * Gardnerville, 89410 Glenbrook, 89413 Incline Village, 89450 [14] (7,119)* Reno, 89501 (155,500) Sparks, 89431 (59,500) Stateline, 89449 [39] (1,379) Virginia City, 89440 Zephyr Cove, 89448 [35] (1,434) See also: Nevada Tahoe Area.* Incline Village population includes Crystal Bay. ZIP Code lookup at the USPS Geographic Names Information at the USGS. [ ] - mileage marker - clockwise from Tahoe City. |
Locations and Developments | |
Carnelian Bay [6]: Cedar Flat [5] Fulton Acres [4] Tahoe City [0]: Dollar Point [3] Lake Forest [2] Pine Meadows [71.5] Tahoe Woods [71] Tahoe Park [70] Twin Peaks [70] Sunnyside [70] Homewood [66]: Pineland [69] Timberland [69] Skyland [68] Tahoe Pines [67] Fleur Du Lac [67] Tahoe Swiss Village [66.5] Chamberlands [64.5] Tahoma [63.5]: McKinney Estates [64] Pomins [63] Sugar Pine Point [62] Meeks Bay [61] Rubicon Bay [58.6] | South Lake Tahoe (ZIP=96150-58): Emerald Bay [54] (Has Tahoma PO, and SLT Phone) Camp Richardson (ZIP=96156) [47.5] Tahoe Valley (ZIP=96158) [45] Tahoe Keys [46] Tahoe Paradise (ZIP=96155) Al Tahoe Bijou (ZIP=96156) Myers (ZIP=96155) Parks, Campgrounds & Landmarks See Camping for links. Calif. Nevada state line N. [11] Calif. Nevada state line S. [39.8] Ski Run Blvd. [40.8] S. Tahoe Y [44.5] Emerald Bay [53.4] Bliss SP [55.6] Meeks Bay Resort [61.2] Sugar Pine Point SP [62][ ] - mileage marker - clockwise from Tahoe City |
Transportation | Travel |
Tahoe Area Regional Transit (TART) Transportation at Gossamer's Tahoe Page Getting Around page at VisualTahoe. Airports |
Directions, I-80 Sierra Nevada Maps and Services, Road Conditions at CalTrans Caltrans: I-80, 89
Winter Travel Tips at CalTrans |
Facts: | |
Mark Twain could hardly contain himself in describing his first visit to the lake ...
"At last the lake burst upon us - a noble sheet of blue water lifted 6300 feet above the level of the sea, and wailed in by a rim of snow-clad mountain peaks that towered aloft 3000 feet higher still! It was a vast oval... As it lay there with the shadows of the mountains brilliantly photographed upon its still surface, I thought it must surely be the fairest picture the whole earth affords."Facts: Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America and the 2nd deepest (1,645 ft (501 m). The lake is 99.1 percent pure and known for its remarkable clarity and cobalt blue color.
Lake Tahoe is the second deepest lake in the United States and the tenth deepest in the world, with a maximum depth measured at 1,645 ft (501 m), average depth of 1,000 ft (305 m). Crater Lake in Oregon is the deepest lake (1,949 ft or 594 m) in the United States. Lake Tahoe is about 22 mi (35 km) long and l2 mi (19 km) wide and has 72 mi (116 km) of shoreline and a surface area of 191 mi2 (495 km2). The floor of the Lake Tahoe Basin is at an elevation of about 4,580 ft (1,396 m), which is lower than the surface of the Carson Valley to the east! With an average surface elevation of 6,225 ft (1,897 m) above sea level, Lake Tahoe is the highest lake of its size in the United State.
The water temperature near the surface generally cools to 40 to 50°F (4.5 to 10°C) during February and March and warms to 65 to 70°F (18 to 21°C) during August and September. Below a depth of 600 to 700 ft (183 to 213 m), the water temperature remains a constant 39°F (4.0°C). Source: Facts about Lake Tahoe at the USGS Lake Tahoe never freezes due to the depth and constant movement of water from the bottom to the surface although some protected areas such as Emerald Bay have been covered with a layer of ice. The lake is fed by 63 streams and two hot springs. The Truckee River at Tahoe City is the only outlet for the lake, which eventually feeds northeast into Pyramid Lake, never reaching an ocean. Precipitation varies by location. The Sierra rain shadow causes yearly precipitation to decrease as one moves east. Donner summit in the north and Echo summit in the south can get 80 in. per year. Carson City over the mountains to the east gets only 25 in. per year. Precipitation ranges from 40 inches per year (in/yr) on the eastern side to 90 in/yr on the western side according to the 1999 USGS Fact Sheet 035-02. The precipitation total in 2006 was 48.4 inches. That is 84 percent higher than the annual average measured in 2001 through 2005, which was 26.3 inches according to the 2007 Tahoe Status Report from UC Davis' Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC). The snow to liquid equivalent is the amount of liquid precipitation that is produced after melting snow. It can range from 5:1 for wet snow to 30:1 for extremly dry snow. 10:1 is the commonly used ratio. The number of days with average air temperatures below freezing has dropped from 79 days to 52 days from 1911 to 2007. The percentage of snow in the total precipitation has decreased from 52 percent to 34 percent since 1911. The only fish truly native to this area is the Lahontan cuthroat trout, though mackinaw, rainbow trout and kokanee salmon also inhabit Tahoe. Non-natives were introduced as early as the mid-1800s to provide food for miners as the Lahontan fishery was drastically depleted.
Why is it so blue?
In 2015 researchers found that low levels of alge were more responsible for the blueness than the clarity.
Clarity: 33% of the pollution comes from the Tahoe Keys at the South Shore. UC Davis researchers at the Tahoe Environmental Research Center, measure the lake's clarity every seven to 10 days by lowering a white, dinner-plate-sized disk (called a Secchi disk) into the water at fixed locations and noting the depth at which the disk disappears from sight. In 1968, when Secchi measurements began, the disk could be seen at an average depth of 102.4 feet. It is now about 72 feet.
Conservation and Development
Snowfall: Population: 20,000 in 1960 to more than 65,000 in 2003
Links:
Tree Species | |
Links: | |
Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC) (UC Davis) Lake Tahoe Validation at NASA's JPL Tahoe basin precipitation and watershed streamwater outflow: inter-annual variability and explanatory variables, James C Trask, Graham E Fogg Hydrologic Sciences Program, UC Davis Lake Tahoe Data Clearinghouse (tahoe.usgs.gov) Morphology and processes in Lake Tahoe at USGS Lake Tahoe Environmental Education Coalition Tahoe On-line from South Tahoe Internet Services provider The Sierra Nevada North of Yosemite at geoweb.berkeley.edu Geographic Reference sources Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Lake Tahoe Research, Magazine, Maps, Literature, and Resources Emergency Communicataions (Ham, Cell Phone, Satellite Phone, CB) |