South Lake Tahoe

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond this area.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Flood insurance figures are for El Dorado County, the county that contains South Lake Tahoe.

Claims by ZIP code

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

River crests

River gauges in El Dorado County, the county that contains South Lake Tahoe.

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

The drought index is for El Dorado County, the county that contains South Lake Tahoe.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the city centre.
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Volcanoes within 100 miles

1. U.S. volcanoes within 100 miles, from the USGS Volcano Hazards Program. The threat category is the USGS 2018 National Volcanic Threat Assessment, which ranks volcanoes by how hazardous their past eruptions were and how many people and how much infrastructure lie near them. It is not a forecast of eruption.

USGS Volcano Hazards Program, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Mapped landslides

Landslides mapped in El Dorado County.

Mapped by CA GS (680), NASA (10), USGS Conterminous (2).

1. Landslides mapped in the USGS compilation of landslide inventories across the United States (version 3.0, 2025), rated probable or better. The compilation joins inventories made by federal and state agencies for different purposes and areas, so the number mapped in a county reflects how closely it has been surveyed as much as how often its slopes fail. An area with few records may simply not have been mapped. Deaths are as recorded in the inventories; a slide listed in two inventories is counted once.

USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0, retrieved October 27, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jun 24, 2007Wildfire, Greater Lake Tahoe Area$500 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The human-caused Angora wildfire started on June 24th and continued to burn through the end of June. Strong winds gusting to 40 mph caused the wildfire to spread across 3,100 acres south of Lake Tahoe. A total of 254 houses and over 60 commercial structures were destroyed.

2. Jan 1, 1997Flash Flood$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rains and melting snow caused flooding and a massive mudslide near the town of Kyburz. US route 50, the main route from California to the south Lake Tahoe area, was closed for 17 days due to the mudslide and additional washouts. Numerous homes, cabins, resorts, and bridges sustained heavy damage or were destroyed completely. Small communities were isolated and without power for several days afterward.

3. Feb 21, 2017Debris Flow$6.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A large sinkhole on US50 near Bridal Veil Falls Rd. closed the westbound lanes. The damage remained through the spring and requires large scale repairs, with four lanes of the road have been reduced to two, one lane in each direction.|Crews demolished the westbound lanes, and stabilized the slope down to the river and and began erecting a retaining wall that will hold up the new westbound lanes.|The process will likely take several months and could cost an estimated $6.5 million.

4. Jan 24, 1997Flash Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The return of rain to the Sierra Nevada caused another, larger, mudslide on US highway 50 at 2330 PST on the 24th near the town of White Hall. The slide was 800 feet wide and reached heights of 70 feet and contained a total of 500,000 cubic yards of earth. One home was destroyed in the slide. The south fork of the American River was temporarily dammed but broke through the slide slowly.

5. Jan 1, 2006Flood$3.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A series of warm winter storms brought heavy rain, mudslides, flooding, and high winds to Northern California. - Levee overtopping, breaching, and river flooding occurred along the Feather and Sacramento mainstem rivers as well as along numerous smaller rivers, creeks, and streams. Several urban areas had significant street flooding. The Sacramento weir was opened for the first time since 1997 with twenty gates opened. - Transportation throughout the area was difficult during the course of the storms as airports were closed due to the high winds and major road closures resulted from flooding and mudslides. Interstate 80...the main artery between Sacramento and the San Francisco…

6. Feb 8, 2017Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain fell in areas with significant snow berms and blocked storm drains, resulting in substantial flooding to around 50 homes in the Meyers area. Some of the worst flood damage was seen on Nahane Dr and Wailaki St per a KCRA news article. The end time of the flooding is estimated. Damage estimates are also roughly estimated.

7. Dec 24, 2015Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down at Folsom Lake, and tracked eastward through El Dorado Hills, damaging business and home roofs, and knocking down fences and trees. The tornado continued eastward about 6 miles into Cameron Park, though it was not on the ground continuously. More roofs, trees, and fences were damaged in Cameron Park. No injuries were reported, though a large tree narrowly missed falling on a vehicle with a family of 4.

8. Dec 31, 2005Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Localized flooding was reported in areas south of Lake Tahoe. Sierra Pacific Power Company reported that at least eight power poles were knocked down, most likely due to the saturated ground. Power lines were also downed when trees fell on them. Around 4,000 people were left without power south of Lake Tahoe. This was the all-time record flood on Trout Creek in South Lake Tahoe and Tahoe Valley, flooding U.S. Highway 50. General Creek flooded California Highway 89 at Sugar Pine Point State Park.

9. Apr 15, 2002Heavy Snow, Greater Lake Tahoe Area$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A heavy snow shower, creating low visibilityand a slick roadway, caused a 21 vehicle pile-up on Intertstate 80 about 5 miles east of Truckee, CA. Several trucks were involved in the accident with at least one semi trailer destroyed.

10. Feb 17, 2017Flood$500,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    There was a significant hole in a roadway due to an underground culvert failure.

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

99°FJul 22, 1988

All-time low

−29°F2 times, most recently Feb 7, 1989

Warmest night

62°F2 times, most recently Jul 25, 1988

Coldest day

11°FFeb 6, 1989

Wettest day

4.89 inOct 24, 2021

Hottest year

2014mean 48.4°F

Coldest year

1975mean 40.5°F

Wettest year

201742.08 in

Driest year

20027.71 in

Station S Lake Tahoe Airport (USW00093230), 6,257 ft elevation, 2.2 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1968 to October 26, 2026; 97.0% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

Declarations for El Dorado County.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USW00093230.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Volcanoes USGS Volcano Hazards Program, U.S. volcanoes and 2018 threat assessment.
• Landslides USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0 (2025).
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.