Tahoe may see snow this weekend as sudden cold front arrives

Snow may fall on the highest peaks around the Tahoe Basin this weekend, as a strong cold front is forecast to sweep through the Sierra Nevada with sustained winds, plummeting temperatures and a chance of showers. 

Read more California officials to dump millions of flies over San Diego County residents

Those with plans to recreate outdoors this weekend may want to think twice before heading out to the mountains to go camping, swimming or boating and should be prepared for changing weather conditions. 

The warm weather that Tahoe has experienced over the past week is forecast to continue through Thursday, with highs in the upper 70s and low 80s and gentle breezes in the afternoon. 

But this weekend, those temperatures will quickly drop, dipping into the upper 50s and mid-60s for the Tahoe Truckee region by Saturday, said Gigi Giralte, forecaster at the National Weather Service in Reno.

That sudden shift in temperature will increase winds as well, with gusts predicted to clock 70 to 80 mph on the ridges in the Tahoe Basin.

“As that front moves through, it’s going to be quite a change from what we’ve had this past week,” Giralte said.

The temperature drop is also pushing snow levels down to 7,500 to 8,500 feet — impacting many of the mountains surrounding Lake Tahoe and along the Sierra Crest. 

Forecasters predict a slight chance of showers for Lake Tahoe on Saturday night into Sunday. Anyone who plans to go backpacking in the mountains should be prepared for a very cold night.

“The current forecast doesn’t have any snowfall accumulations happening at that time frame, but we could see some snowflakes falling if anyone is on those higher peaks,” Giralte said. “Again, it will be later in the day, so hopefully no one will be up there.”

Read more A man went over Yosemite National Park’s Nevada Fall. A stranger tried to save him.

Those overnight lows will impact lower elevations in the valleys around Lake Tahoe, like in Truckee, where temperatures are expected to dip to near freezing early on Sunday morning. 

With heavy winds pushing across the water, Lake Tahoe is also forecast to experience higher wave heights this weekend, Giralte noted. 

“Right now, we’re seeing the forecast has wave heights of up to 3 feet, but that will likely increase as the forecast gets a little better, as we get closer, as we’ll have higher confidence in just how strong those winds will be,” Giralte said.

Sudden shifts in weather are not unheard of in Lake Tahoe in June. Around this time last year, a fast-moving microburst brought about a sudden change in weather and dangerous conditions on Lake Tahoe, leading to a tragic boating accident. Caught off guard, eight people died on June 21, 2025, after their boat capsized amid waves as tall as 8 or 10 feet and snow falling.

Giralte said this is a different weather pattern than what happened a year ago. Last year’s microburst developed so rapidly, it came as a surprise. This weekend, conditions are lining up and giving forecasters time to predict the change. “So we have much higher confidence in strong winds that could result in choppy lake waters and large wave heights on Lake Tahoe and other area lakes,” Giralte said. 

Fire concerns will also be top of mind this weekend as strong winds combine with low humidity and dry forest fuels.

Read more SF man without a license arrested on suspicion of reckless driving in Dolores Park