Lake Tahoe expected to rise another 1.2 feet this summer

When Lake Tahoe reached its natural rim on April 9, it was the first time in 300 days that it had done so. Water supply forecasters now expect the lake to rise another 1.2 feet this summer (0.8 feet on the low end to almost 1.9 feet on the high end).

Water supply forecasts are made by the US National Weather Service California Nevada River Forecast Center Forecast Center in coordination with the Natural Resource Conservation Service.

They take into consideration the snowpack, precipitation and evaporation but don't account for water released from the dam on the North Shore which is controlled by the Lake Tahoe Watermaster. There is a minimum required release from Tahoe when the lake level is high enough to support that flow. Evaporation typically exceeds precipitation and inflow by midsummer causing lake level to decrease until reversing in early winter.