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South Lake Tahoe, California

34 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1889 and the latest in 1992. It stands in the South Lake Tahoe census division. It lies in ZIP code area 96150. It stands on Trout Creek. The Survey maps it on the South Lake Tahoe quadrangle. 21,330 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 6,237 feet above sea level.

South Lake Tahoe within El Dorado County

Then and now

1889 to 1992

The same ground, surveyed 103 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of South Lake Tahoe, surveyed 1992
Topographic sheet of South Lake Tahoe, surveyed 1889

On record in South Lake Tahoe

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 5 records

Population over time

3 figures

South Lake Tahoe grew from 12,921 to 21,330 between 1970 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
197012,921
201021,403
202021,330-73 (-0%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

13 surveys from 34 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

530 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 530 fires within 5 miles of South Lake Tahoe between 1992 and 2020, burning about 894 acres in total. 49 started naturally. 59 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined151
Recreation and ceremony114
Smoking74
Arson/incendiarism59
Natural49
Misuse of fire by a minor30
Debris and open burning16
Power generation/transmission/distribution15
Equipment and vehicle use13
Fireworks8
Other causes1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
9 September 2020Arson/incendiarismunder an acreLake Tahoe Basin Management UnitHOLLY
9 September 2009Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
9 September 2001Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreLake Tahoe Basin Management UnitPARTY
8 September 2009Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresLake Tahoe Basin Management UnitKEYS
8 September 2009Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreLake Tahoe Basin Management UnitKAHLE
8 September 1992Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreLake Tahoe Basin Management Unitnot named
7 September 2016Arson/incendiarismunder an acreLake Tahoe Basin Management UnitEDNA 1
7 September 2011Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreLake Tahoe Basin Management UnitVALHALLA

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in El Dorado County

Mines and quarries near this place

8 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of South Lake Tahoe: 5 unknowns, 2 occurrences, 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Stone, Limestone, Dimension, Scandium. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
California Rock and GravelLimestone, DimensionUnknown
Gravel PitScandiumUnknown
Sand & GravelSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Anderson PitStoneOccurrence
Butler PitStoneOccurrence
Anderson PitStone, Crushed/BrokenUnknown
Butler PitStone, Crushed/BrokenUnknown
Quarry 1Stone, Crushed/BrokenUnknown

Every working recorded in El Dorado County

Storms near this place

11 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names South Lake Tahoe in 11 storm reports between 1996 and 2023: 5 hail, 4 flood, 2 heavy rain. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
December 2005FloodSouth Lake Tahoe$1,000,000Localized flooding was reported in areas south of Lake Tahoe. Sierra Pacific Power Company reported that at least eight power poles were knocked down, most likely due to the saturated ground. Power lines were also downed when trees fell on them. Around 4,000 people were left without power south of Lake Tahoe. This was the all-time record flood on Trout Creek in South Lake Tahoe and Tahoe Valley, flooding U.S. Highway 50. General Creek flooded California Highway 89 at Sugar Pine Point State Park.
February 2017FloodSouth Lake Tahoe$250,000Heavy rain combined with snow berms and clogged storm drains to bring flooding to around 10 homes in South Lake Tahoe starting on the 8th. Bill and Shirley Avenues saw the most flooding damage per a KCRA news article. The damages are roughly estimated.
December 1996Heavy RainSouth Lake Tahoe$100,000no account filed
October 2023Heavy RainSouth Lake Tahoe-A CoCoRaHS station (CA-ED-35) located 1.4 mi ENE of South Lake Tahoe reported a total rainfall amount of 0.56 inches.
March 2018FloodSouth Lake Tahoe-Tahoe Daily Tribune reported that heavy rainfall caused flooding at two residences in South Lake Tahoe along Bill Avenue on 22 March. No damage estimates were available.
September 2017HailSouth Lake Tahoe-Public reported nickel size hail via Facebook.
July 2015HailSouth Lake Tahoe-The hail was estimated to be golf-ball sized from a Facebook image. The hail broke flower pots, a birdbath and two glass tables.
August 2013HailSouth Lake Tahoe-Penny to nickel hail was reported in South Lake Tahoe with hail accumulations up to 2 inches deep.
September 1998HailSouth Lake Tahoe-Very brief hail estimated up to 0.75 inch diameter along the south shore of Lake Tahoe near Emerald Bay. Reported by California Highway Patrol.
July 2015HailSouth Lake Tahoe-no account filed
July 2002FloodSouth Lake Tahoe-no account filed

Every storm recorded in El Dorado County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Al Tahoe0.6 miles34
Lake Valley1.1 miles35
Bijou1.2 miles34
Tahoe Keys1.6 miles35
Tahoe Valley1.7 miles35
Bijou Park1.8 miles34
Tallac Village2.1 miles35
Stateline2.8 miles34

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on South Lake TahoeAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q983602The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1659822. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.