June Snow at Tahoe — for Third Time This Year

Lake Tahoe has experienced unusual snow three times this June — not enough to impact the ongoing severe California drought, but enough to provoke amazement among travelers and curiosity from meteorologists.

The San Jose Mercury News reported Saturday:

The summer season at Lake Tahoe has been off to a chilly start, with snow flurries at Incline Village and rain showers around the lake Saturday hampering sunbathing and boating.

“It doesn’t look or feel anything remotely like mid-June,” said meteorologist Scott McGuire of the National Weather Service’s Reno office.

Saturday’s snow marks the third time so far this month that snow, however light, fell on the Tahoe area. And as much as it may have ruined picnic plans, “it won’t do anything remotely to put a damper into the drought we’re experiencing,” McGuire said.

Images and videos flooded social media:

Mid June and snow at Lake Tahoe!! #LakeTahoe #Snowfall #California pic.twitter.com/KZXKBjZgfV

— Prabhava CPUwala (@iamPrabhava) June 19, 2022

Unexpected snow flurry for 8 miles on our way to Lake Tahoe. Video by @florinda3rs as I was driving and thought it best to not try and record at the same time. https://t.co/n1PcFj0wsZ

— Paulsible deniability. (@RamsesTMagnum) June 18, 2022

As Breitbart News reported late last year, Lake Tahoe experienced massive snowfalls in December, breaking the record for totals in that month. The snow stranded tourists and snarled travel plans, but did not do enough to ease the ongoing drought.

Scientists warn that the current La Niña conditions, which are associated with drought across the American Southwest, are more likely than not to continue into a third straight year, which could bring even more extreme water shortages to the state.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.