South Lake Tahoe forecast: Widespread smoke, chance of rain with incoming system

Submitted by paula on Mon, 09/14/2020 - 7:54am

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - There is a Dense Smoke Advisory in place until 11:00 a.m. Monday. Widespread smoke and haze issues will continue much of this week. Warm temperatures are expected through Thursday then a cold front will drop readings back to near or even below normal for the upcoming weekend. Increased winds could bring fire weather concerns through the week, but especially Thursday and Friday. A few light showers possible in northeastern California Friday and Saturday according to the National Weather Service (NWS) in Reno.

The main impact from the incoming system is still expected to be gusty winds ahead of the trough that are looking more and more likely to create a period of fairly widespread critical fire weather conditions in the Sierra and western Nevada Thursday into Friday, said NWS Reno. Current timing of the frontal passage would allow fairly solid winds on Thursday and Friday with peak gusts around 30-40 mph and ridge winds gusting 50+ mph.

This will also bring changes to the smoke situation, but with so much smoke currently in California, and so many acres still burning, it`s impossible to say exactly how the smoke situation will evolve as the trough passes by. We`ll likely see some improvement (areas not downwind of wildfires) when the winds kick

up and mixes increases, but we may still be dealing with significant smoke impacts behind the front.

Cooler temperatures, back to seasonal averages, can be expected for the end of the week as cold front moves through the region with warming beginning by the first part of next week

The Forecast for South Lake Tahoe from NWS-Reno:

Today - Widespread smoke, mainly before 11am. Sunny, with a high near 81. Southeast wind 5 to 10 mph becoming southwest 10 to 15 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 25 mph.

Tonight - Areas of smoke. Clear, with a low around 39. South wind 5 to 10 mph.

Tuesday - Areas of smoke. Sunny, with a high near 81. Light and variable wind becoming west 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon.

Tuesday Night - Areas of smoke. Clear, with a low around 39. West wind 5 to 10 mph becoming light in the evening.

Wednesday - Areas of smoke. Sunny, with a high near 81. Light south wind becoming southwest 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon.

Wednesday Night - Areas of smoke. Mostly clear, with a low around 41. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Thursday - Widespread haze. Sunny, with a high near 76.

Thursday Night - Widespread haze before 11pm. Partly cloudy, with a low around 46.

Friday - A slight chance of showers. Mostly sunny, with a high near 67.

Friday Night - Mostly clear, with a low around 38.

Saturday - Sunny, with a high near 70.

Saturday Night - Clear, with a low around 37.

Sunday - Sunny, with a high near 73.