Lake Tahoe almost full, Upper Truckee River above flood stage

The rain in the Sierra Thursday and Friday melted snow, sending the water down into rivers and the lake faster than normal. While the Upper Truckee River in South Lake Tahoe is over the banks and flooding the meadow, Lake Tahoe got closer to full.

The Upper Truckee is moving at 1960 cubic feet per minute, much faster than the 112 feet per minute just a week ago. It is also just over 11 feet in height, a few inches above the flood stage per NOAA-NWS.

Lake Tahoe measured at 6228.7 ft above sea level on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. The legal limit is 6229.1, the natural rim is 6223 ft.

On this date in history, the fastest the Upper Truckee in South Lake Tahoe discharged was 747 cubic feet per second (2017) and the lowest was 44.1 in 2015 (based on 43 years of records)

Sonya Vasquez of the USGS Nevada Water Science Center told South Tahoe Now during the 2017 floods that the discharge volume of water is the "quantity of water moving past the gauge." The gauge is located about 1/10 mile north of the bridge over the Truckee on Highway 50.

Vasquez and the Nevada team collect data that is provided to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to use in their forecasts.