Short answer? Not often at all. In fact, Tahoe is one of best places to plan an outdoor event well in advance without worrying about rain.
Long answer? Most outdoor event planning in Tahoe is during the months of July, August, and September. People wonder if their travel or party or wedding or family reunion will get rained out. It can, but it is very likely that you will have perfect weather.
Tahoe’s weather includes famous amounts of snow in the winter, but July, August, and September are drier than all but the three driest months in Phoenix and Tucson!
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| Enjoying Tahoe Sunshine! |
Most people would agree that the weather that is most likely to “drown out” your event is a thunderstorm. In fact, during those three months the possibility of a thunderstorm happens on only 10% or less of the days. That’s three days in July and August and even less in September. And when a thunderstorm comes, it usually doesn’t drop much rain and it is usually over quickly
What are the other sources of precipitation? Light rain happens on only 3% of summer days, or one day a month. And light rain in Tahoe is usually very light, a few sprinkles at night and that is all.
Truth be told, there is also the possibility of light snow. I know, it seems ridiculous to get snow in July or August, but all of us long-term locals remember times it has happened. When the rare cold front pushes in off the Pacific or down from the Northern Rockies, the resulting snow is usually very little and it melts fast. The snow won’t interrupt your event as much as the cold air will. But there’s only about a 1% chance of snow in July and August. Toward the end of September, the chance of snow rises to about 4% to 5% of days, which translates to one or two days in September.
There have been times when an actual winter storm blows through in the end of September, dropping substantial amounts of snow, but the chance is very small. And while the snow may hang around for awhile at higher elevations, it always melts down at lake level within a day or two.
Yes, people come here for the gorgeous landscape, but one of the mains reasons why Tahoe is so popular in summer and early fall is because our weather is generally perfect. Hot sun during the day (average high 79 degrees), cool to cold at night (average low 40 degrees - great sleeping weather!), and mostly clear blue skies.
So go ahead and plan your outdoor event and come up the mountain to play! The odds are very good that you won’t have to worry about rain.
P.S. Official qualifiers and disclaimers apply. If it is critical that you don’t get hit with precipitation, plan for an indoor backup location!
Here are links to averages on two weather websites.
http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/96150 (Scroll down to precipitation)
http://weatherspark.com/averages/31814/South-Lake-Tahoe-California-United-States (Scroll down to see precipitation)
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