August 28, 2021
We have gusty southwest winds Wednesday and highs only in the 70s as a trough moves through. The persistent southwest wind pattern most afternoons is funneling smoke into the area from the Caldor fire located to the southwest of the Tahoe Basin.
The good news is that the west/southwest winds Thursday through Saturday afternoon should be lighter with gusts of only 15-20+ mph. The choppier water should be limited to the afternoons away from the west shore. The bad news is that the dry conditions and the smoke will likely persist and the fire will continue to creep closer to the area.
The sunny but smoky skies will continue through the weekend. It will stay cooler through Thursday with highs in the 70s at lake level. Then a warmup through the weekend back into the 80s as high pressure builds over the region.
By Sunday afternoon another trough is pushing into the West Coast. That could bring back stronger winds in the afternoons into early next week. And cooler temperatures again by the middle of the week.
It’s fun starting to see these deeper troughs move through. A reminder that it won’t be long until the jet stream starts to strengthen and dip south with storms spinning up over the Pacific. If we see early snow it can be as early as the 1st half of September which is now only 2-3 weeks away. For now, the forecast remains dry through next week.