Lake Tahoe fully mixes, records 115-foot clarity
On Feb. 27 or 28, Lake Tahoe flipped or, more correctly, it fully mixed vertically from top to bottom. Full mixing is an annual event in shallower lakes, however, for Tahoe and its 1,640-foot depth, it is a less common occurrence. Lake Tahoe last mixed during the 2018-19 winter. How do we know it flipped? UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC) researchers are on the lake every week sampling the water quality, the phytoplankton and the overall health. Researchers also maintain instruments in the lake, which take measurements every few minutes. Typically mixing starts in the fall, with the surface layer of the lake cooling and gradually mixing deeper.