lake tahoe basin

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Long has been the joke that there are two seasons in Lake Tahoe, winter and roadwork. Both are holding up true for 2019 as we leave a long and heavy winter and prepare for several road construction projects.

On Wednesday, April 24, CalTrans is inviting the public to come out and learn about their three projects scheduled to begin on US 50 in the Lake Tahoe Basin this summer. The public meeting will be in the South Tahoe High School Student Union from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Those of us living in Lake Tahoe know all too well the dangers of wildfire, but we also know the positive outcome a collaborative effort to be better prepared can do.

Residents across the West have been given their "wake up call" over the past few years as record-breaking fires have burned through communities, leaving devastation and death in their wake.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The forecast is beginning to sound like a broken record - Rain, snow, sunshine, repeat. Mother Nature keeps sending us bits of everything in the Lake Tahoe forecasts. Never fear....at this point it looks like a week of sunshine coming soon!

The National Weather Service in Reno has issued a Lake Wind Advisory, which is in effect from noon to 9:00 p.m. Monday. The advisory is for Tahoe, Donner, Fallen Leaf, Prosser, and Boca lakes. Winds will be from the southwest 15 to 20 mph, gusts to 40 mph. Waves on the lakes will be 1 to 3 feet.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The week ahead in the Lake Tahoe Basin will have some rain, a thunderstorm, snow, sun, and wind. It's almost like what Mark Twain once said: “If you don't like the weather in New England now, just wait a few minutes.” Just pull out New England and insert Lake Tahoe!

They all appear in the forecast this week as weak to moderate spring storms impact the region. The wettest periods look to be Tuesday and Friday Night into Saturday. Temperatures will be variable from day to day, but generally near to slightly
above normal for the first week of April.

Once again, Spooner Lake State Park offers outdoor sports enthusiasts a system of meandering cross-country ski trails that wind through dense forest, across an open meadow and along the banks of Spooner Lake.

This trail system is free to the public and made possible by a partnership between Nevada State Parks and Nevada Nordic, a non-profit group based in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

The scenic, intermediate trail includes several teardrop loops with flat rolling terrain, which makes it great for both families and experienced skiers. For current trail conditions visit nevadanordic.org.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - A vacant one-half acre lot on Emerald Bay Road at the "Y" in South Lake Tahoe will soon become an “affordable by design” housing project and could be the site of tiny houses. At Thursday's California Tahoe Conservancy meeting they announced their intent to sell one of its developable properties to Dinsmore Sierra who will finance and build the project which is across the street from Alpina Cafe.

LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The Sierra Nevada has seen epic amounts of snowfall this winter and recent measurements at both Phillips and Mt. Rose show water content of the snowpack well above normal.

LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. - It takes real people making real progress to conserve Lake Tahoe’s unique natural environment. The 2019 Lake Spirit Awards will honor those committed to a spirit of cooperation and protecting Lake Tahoe.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) will accept nominations for the awards through Friday, March 29, 2019. The nomination form for the Lake Spirit Awards can be found online at http://www.trpa.org/get-involved/lake-spirit-awards/.

While the rate at which trees died in California has slowed, an additional 18 million trees (mostly conifers) have died in the state, bringing a commitment from both the USDA Forest Service and CALFIRE to make forest health their top priority.

The USDA Forest Service announced today over 147 million trees have died across 9.7 million acres of federal, state, local and private lands in California since the drought began in 2010. Since 2016, federal, state, and local partners have felled 1.5 million dead trees, primarily those posing the highest hazards to life and property.

MEYERS, Calif. - Traffic through neighborhoods in the Meyers area has become unbearable to many residents as vehicles leaving South Lake Tahoe to take to side streets in an effort to circumvent Highway 50 traffic over Echo Summit.

In an effort to find solutions to a problem that keeps Meyers residents from their homes for hours at a time, a townhall-style meeting was held on Friday night.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. – California State Parks and the Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District will continue prescribed fire operations over the next several weeks in multiple locations around Lake Tahoe, weather, staffing, and conditions permitting.

Six areas are currently scheduled for burning -

1. DL Bliss Campground - Acreage: 17 (Ongoing)
2. D. L. Bliss Gateway - Acreage: 4 (Ongoing)
3. Sunset Stables East - Acreage: 10 (Ongoing)
4. NV State Lands - Lower Kingsbury - Acreage: 5 (Planned start January 30)

LAKE TAHOE, CA/NV – Lake Tahoe needs our help. The “Jewel of the Sierra” is being loved to death. The vast amount of trips being made by motor vehicles have contributed to severe traffic congestion, unsafe conditions for cars, pedestrians, and cyclists, mounting air pollution, declining lake clarity, and other negative impacts.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Almost two years after their executive director embezzled almost $60,000 from the Lake Tahoe Humane Society (LTHS), the nonprofit tasked with helping local pets, is folding after 51 years of serving the South Lake Tahoe community.

A new board of directors had taken several steps, including the sale of their Emerald Bay Road building and laying off of employees, to get LTHS back on their feet but could never get the nonprofit's community standing back.

PHILLIPS, Calif. - It was a much different picture of the Sierra snowpack today than what there was a year ago when the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) conducted their first monthly measurement of the snow and water content at Phillips Station, ten miles west of Lake Tahoe.

As of January 3, 2019, DWR measured the snow at 25.5 inches deep, which means the Sierra snowpack is 80 percent of normal with a snow water equivalent (SWE) of nine inches. These figures are 36 percent of the April 1 average, the date used as the maximum snowpack that will be received in the mountains.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – The USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit is now accepting reservations for the 2019 Winter Trek Conservation Education Program. Fifth-grade teachers may reserve a spot by calling the Forest Supervisor’s office at 530-543-2789, Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., excluding holidays. Winter Trek begins Tuesday, January 15, and continues through March 28, 2019, weather permitting. Field trips are generally three hours long and are offered on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Winter has arrived in the Lake Tahoe Basin along with the holiday season. Local fire districts and their partners would like to take this opportunity to remind residents and visitors to properly dispose of fireplace/woodstove ashes and to use caution when decorating for the holiday. The following safety tips are recommended by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) to help keep your home safe this winter/holiday season.

Fireplaces and Woodstoves

Weather permitting, California State Parks, California Tahoe Conservancy, North Lake Tahoe and Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection Districts and the U.S. Forest Service may continue prescribed fire operations over the next several weeks in multiple locations around Lake Tahoe.

Area 1 - No planned burning.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Winter weather has arrived in Lake Tahoe! The second of three storm fronts is finishing up Thursday night with the storm warning expiring at 4:00 a.m. Friday. But Mother Nature isn't done yet.

Another Winter Storm Warning goes up for the Lake Tahoe Basin at 1:00 p.m. Friday and will be in effect until 3:00 p.m. Saturday. A break in the weather precipitation will occur Friday morning which will make this the best window of opportunity to travel in the Sierra.

South Tahoe Now will be carrying The Mountain Resort Report by Curtis Fong during the 2018-19 ski season.

Good morning Lake Tahoe skiers and riders. It's a beautiful Sunday FUnday for ending your Thanksgiving weekend! Kirkwood has three lifts and 15 trails open; Mammoth is open top to bottom with 12 lifts and 37 trails open; Squaw has Gold Coast open on the upper mountain; Mt. Rose is open top to bottom. Have fun and be safe! If you are departing the Lake Tahoe Basin, buckle up, drive safely and have patience with traffic.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - If you want to cut down your Christmas tree in Lake Tahoe, time is running out and Friday, November 16 may be your last chance.

As of 11:45 a.m. Friday, the US Forest Service office in South Lake Tahoe was sold out of the popular $!0 permits. The only other location in the Lake Tahoe Basin is in Incline Village. As of that same time they were down to about 275 permits and expected to be sold out by the end of the day.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - It's that time of year once again when Christmas Tree permits go on sale at local Forest Service offices. With a limit of 2,00 permits there is no telling when they'll sell out.

Starting November 14, 2018, The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) will begin selling the $10 permits on a first-come, first-served basis. Permit holders may choose from a variety of pine, fir or cedar trees up to six inches in diameter (at the base) in designated cutting areas.

LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. - Years of collaboration with a variety of partners have brought to completion two major initiatives for the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA). During their governing board meeting on October 24 a new Shoreline Plan was unanimously approved as was a comprehensive package of changes to the agency’s development rights system.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Weather and conditions permitting, California State Parks and the U.S. Forest Service will continue the fall prescribed fire program with operations in D.L. Bliss State Park on the West Shore tomorrow, October 23, 2018, and in Baldwin Meadow on the south end of Lake Tahoe on Wednesday, October 24. Smoke will likely be present. Both of these operations will involve understory burning, which is explained below. A map with project locations and details is available for viewing at http://www.tahoefft.org.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Weather and conditions permitting, California State Parks and the U.S. Forest Service may conduct prescribed fire operations in Sugar Pine Point State Park on the West Shore and near Twin Peaks on the South Shore beginning today, October 17, 2018. Smoke will likely be present.

A) Along lakeside of Hwy 89, north of General Creek, 17 acres of understory will be burned by California State Parks. Duration of ignition and smoke production is one week with smoke expected to travel northeast.