"Record" snowfall figures non-existent for South Lake Tahoe, but snow lab near Boreal broke their record

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - There has been a lot of snow around Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada this week, but official records on whether this storm is record-breaking for South Lake Tahoe are non-existent.

The Central Sierra Snow Laboratory (CSSL) located just southwest of Boreal Ridge off of I-80 is at the 6,894-foot level and has been keeping current records since 1970. It is a research and teaching facility of the University of California, Berkeley under the guidance of Dr. Andrew Schwartz, the station manager and lead scientist at the lab.

The snow that has fallen there has officially broken the monthly December record since they started keeping them in 1970 with 193.7" measured on December 27, 2021 (that is 16.13 feet), 38.9 of those inches coming in the last 24-hours. With more snow in the forecast before 2022 arrives, that total should inch closer to two hundred inches.

The previous record for the month at CSSL was during the first year they started to record, in 1970, with 179".

Schwartz said the lab keeps total seasonal snowfall and snow depth all the way back to 1879, but the per storm and per month data since 1946 is not yet digitalized. He said some graduate students will be at the lab this spring to work on the digitalization project for more accurate snowfall record accessibility of the 91 years prior to the lab's new recordings.

The post-1970 data shows 2016/17 was a big water year (Oct 1-Sept 30) with 48 feet of snow, and in the winter of 2010/2011, 53.5 feet of snow.

A little closer to home is the official snow measurement conducted at the dam in Tahoe City. One man has been responsible for measuring the snow daily for 29 consecutive years. The man, who prefers anonymity, walks to the dam, digs out the snow, melts it, and records the totals.

"He volunteers, provides a benefical service and we are thankful," said Scott McGuire with the National Weather Service (NWS) in Reno, the measurement manager for the agency.

At the Tahoe City Cooperative Observing Station they are seeing their 5th snowiest December on record with 98.5" so far in 2021, and this is without any snowfall recorded before December 9.

They need about 18" of more snow this week to break records at Tahoe City. Their record is 114" which fell in December 1931, second most was 106" in December 1951. The fourth most snowfall came just 12 months later in 1082 when they had 101.3".

Many history buffs will remember the epic winter of 1951/52 where the Southern Pacific train, the City of San Francisco, became stuck on the tracks near Yuba Gap. By Jan. 1, 1952, nearly 23 feet of snow had buried Donner Pass, and the train got stuck on Jan. 13 in the middle of a blizzard taht dropped 13 feet of snow. Heroic efforts got the 226 passengers rescued after three days. Highway 40 (the main route before I-80) was closed for 30 days and cars were buried on the road at Donner Pass.

At the South Shore, not many lived in the area year-round, but those that do remember that storm. Long-time local Dave Wakeman said 149.75" of snow fell in a 72 hour period that year.

The only weather records officially kept in South Lake Tahoe are those of rainfall. The official climate station at the airport records rain, but humans are needed to record the snow, and at the same location. There are some records hear and there, but 30 straight years of daily records at the same location are needed to be official, according to McGuire.

There are official climate stations at the Truckee Airport and Reno Airport.

No matter if official or not, those around Lake Tahoe and the Sierra this week know it's a lot of snow.