Incredible Lake Tahoe

Approximately one million years ago, Lake Tahoe evolved to its current shape and size as glaciers scoured the land during the Ice Age. Here’s a look at some of the facts that make Tahoe such an amazing body of water today:

• Maximum depth: 1,645 feet (second deepest in United States, behind Crater Lake)
• Average depth: 1,000 feet
• Maximum length: 22 miles (north–south)
• Shoreline: 72 miles
• Lake Tahoe holds more fresh water than the capacity of all of the man-made reservoirs in the United States combined.
• Average surface elevation (above sea level): 6,225 feet
• Two-thirds of Lake Tahoe is in California; one-third is in Nevada.
• There are 63 tributaries draining into Lake Tahoe and only 1 outlet: the Truckee River in Tahoe City.
• Surface water temperature: 40º to 70º Fahrenheit
• Below 600 to 700 feet, Tahoe’s water temperature remains a constant 39° Fahrenheit.
• Highest peak: Freel Peak at 10,881 feet
• The sun shines at Lake Tahoe 75 percent of the year, or 274 days, on average.
• Average annual snowfall: 125 inches at lake level, 300 to 400 inches at alpine skiing elevations
• Snowfall has been recorded in every month of the year.