Lake · United States
Lake Tahoe
Lake in California and Nevada, United States
- Area
- 496km²
- Max depth
- 501m
- Average depth
- 282m
- Elevation
- 1,898m a.s.l.
- Shoreline
- 116km
- Volume
- 140km³
Lake Tahoe is a lake in United States. It covers 496 km². On average it is 282 m deep, and 501 m at its deepest point. Its surface lies 1,898 m above sea level.
Plan your visit
Stay, sail and get there
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The water
How warm is Lake Tahoe?
The water is warmest in August, around 20 °C at the surface, and coldest in February, around 5 °C. It rarely averages 20 °C, but it stays above 17 °C from July to September: brisk, refreshing swimming.
It does not normally freeze in winter.
On the shore, afternoons reach 28 °C on average in July and 3 °C in December. The driest month is August (6 mm of rain), the wettest December (122 mm).
Average surface temperature measured by the Landsat 8 satellite between 2013 and 2021 at the point furthest from the shore (113 readings). Shallow bays and beaches are often warmer.
From above
The whole lake from space
Month by month
The year at the lake, month by month
Not a forecast: these are averages over many years. Water is the 2013–2021 average; air, rain, sun and wind are the 1991–2020 average.
Water: 2013–2021 averageClimate: 1991–2020 average
| Month | Water°C | Water high°C | Air high°C | Air low°C | Rainmm | Rainy daysdays | Sunh/day | Windkm/h |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5 | 6 | 3 | -6 | 91 | 12 | 5.8 | 10 |
| February | 5 | 5 | 4 | -5 | 99 | 12 | 6.8 | 11 |
| March | 5 | 6 | 7 | -3 | 94 | 12 | 8.4 | 12 |
| April | 7 | 8 | 11 | -1 | 55 | 10 | 10.2 | 12 |
| May | 11 | 13 | 16 | 4 | 38 | 8 | 11.6 | 11 |
| June | 15 | 17 | 23 | 8 | 12 | 4 | 13.7 | 10 |
| July | 19 | 20 | 28 | 13 | 8 | 2 | 13.4 | 9 |
| August | 20 | 20 | 28 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 12.6 | 9 |
| September | 17 | 19 | 23 | 8 | 9 | 3 | 11.2 | 9 |
| October | 14 | 16 | 16 | 3 | 39 | 5 | 9.2 | 10 |
| November | 10 | 11 | 8 | -2 | 68 | 8 | 6.8 | 11 |
| December | 7 | 8 | 3 | -6 | 122 | 12 | 5.0 | 11 |
Water: LakeTEMP (Landsat 8, 2013–2021). Air, rain, sun and wind: NASA POWER, 1991–2020 averages. A rainy day has at least 1 mm of rain. Sunshine hours are derived from measured solar radiation.
Size & depth
How big, how deep
- On average, water stays in the lake for about 235 years before flowing out.
- Its catchment drains 1,299 km² of land.
- About 19 m³ of water flow out every second, on average.
Around the shore
What's around Lake Tahoe
Counted within 1.5 km of the shoreline in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit.
- 98beaches and swimming spots
Secline Beach, Kiva Beach, Pope Beach, William Kent Beach, Nevada Beach and 93 more
- 30campsites
Campground by the Lake, Kaspian Campground, Camp Shelly, F25, F23 and 25 more
- 10boat hire and water-sport clubs
Ski Run Boat Company, Truckee River Rafting, Obexer's Boat Company, West Shore Sports, Sand Harbor Rentals and 5 more
- 27marinas and slipways
Sand harbor, Lake Forest Public Access, Obexer's Boat Company, Tahoe City Marina, Lakeside Marina and 22 more
- —ferry piers
- 21viewpoints
Inspiration Point, Memorial Point Scenic Overlook, Logan Shoals Vista Point, Lookout Point, On Lake Tahoe and 16 more
- 162hotels, B&Bs and chalets
Tahoma Meadows Cottages, WorldMark South Shore, Wyndham South Shore in Zephyr Cove, Parkside Lone Pine Lodge, Adventure Lodge and 157 more
- —fishing spots
- 138restaurants and cafés
Towns on the shore
- South Lake Tahoe21,706 people
- Incline Village8,777 people
- Kings Beach3,796 people
- Sunnyside-Tahoe City1,557 people
- Tahoe Vista1,433 people
- Dollar Point1,215 people
- Tahoma1,191 people
Nearest airport with scheduled flights: Truckee Tahoe Airport (TKF), 24 km in a straight line.
Car hire at RNO airport (Reno)Discover Cars · Affiliate linkOpenStreetMap is built by volunteers: when a number is low, it may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.
Recent years
How each month compared
Afternoon high on the shore. The first row is the reference, the 1991–2020 average in °C; the years below show the difference from it: warmer in orange, cooler in blue.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991–2020 average | 3.0 | 4.0 | 7.1 | 10.7 | 16.4 | 23.0 | 28.5 | 27.5 | 23.1 | 15.8 | 8.3 | 2.6 |
| 2020 | +0.9 | +3.3 | −1.9 | +1.7 | +1.4 | +0.3 | +0.7 | +1.9 | +2.7 | +4.5 | +0.2 | +2.1 |
| 2021 | +1.2 | +0.1 | −0.9 | +3.5 | +2.8 | +4.6 | +2.5 | +0.9 | +1.6 | −2.8 | +2.5 | −0.1 |
| 2022 | +0.7 | +1.4 | +2.3 | +0.5 | −0.3 | +0.3 | +1.1 | +1.5 | +1.5 | +3.5 | −3.7 | −1.3 |
| 2023 | −3.7 | −2.6 | −5.9 | +0.8 | −0.5 | −3.0 | +1.0 | −0.6 | −1.9 | +0.9 | +1.0 | +3.6 |
| 2024 | +0.6 | −0.4 | −1.9 | +1.5 | +1.4 | +3.4 | +3.2 | −0.6 | +1.3 | +2.5 | −1.5 | +3.5 |
| 2025 | +1.2 | +1.7 | −0.1 | +2.0 | +2.1 | +2.9 | −0.1 | +0.9 | −0.2 | −0.7 | +2.7 | +5.2 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Nearby
More lakes nearby
United States477 km² · 117 km away23°maxMono LakeUnited States186 km² · 154 km away22°maxLake BerryessaUnited States66.3 km² · 199 km away27°maxClear LakeUnited States156 km² · 242 km away27°maxLake MerrittUnited States0.5 km² · 242 km away25°maxUpper Klamath LakeUnited States277 km² · 397 km away22°maxAbout these numbers
| Outline, area, depth, volume | HydroLAKES v1.0 (Messager et al. 2016) · CC BY 4.0 |
|---|---|
| Water temperature and ice | LakeTEMP v1 (Korver et al. 2024), Landsat 8 2013–2021 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Air, rain, sun, wind | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 · public domain |
| Names and description | Wikidata (Q169962) · CC0 |
| Around the shore | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
Every figure is an average or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
