Fixing the Forecast

Click to Enlarge High winds whip the lake up into a sea of large whitecaps that wash ashore buoys usually stationed much farther from land April 29 at Incline and Ski Beaches. Bonanza Photo -Jen Schmidt Browse and Buy Tahoe Bonanza Photos

By Kyle Magin
Bonanza Staff Writer
May 9, 2008

Print Email

National Weather Service, local volunteers working to provide more accurate Tahoe weather reports
The Reno-based National Weather Service has traditionally based its recreational forecasts for Lake Tahoe on wind readings and information given to them from the U.S. Coast Guard station in Tahoe City.

Officials say that poses a problem for Incline Village.

Boating and wave height forecasts aren’t accurate because they are based on educated guesses derived from wind speeds taken from buoys in the lake and wave-height reports from a wind-sheltered — and thus inaccurate — Tahoe City station, said NWS lead forecaster Jim Wallman.

So Wallman and other forecasters from Reno are recruiting wave spotters for the Incline/Crystal Bay area in order to create more accurate forecasts for the Nevada side of the North Shore.

“We think that adding wave height to our forecast can lead to safer boating because we are providing more information than we have in the past to our recreational boating forecast,” Wallman said.

The NWS has recruited two local organizations, the North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District and the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, to measure wave heights and report them back to Wallman.

“Adding wave height is important for us because, while a 10-15 mph wind on land doesn’t seem like a big deal, it can be a lot rougher on the water and kick up larger waves,” Wallman said.

He said the NWS can use wave readings from both the NLTFPD and U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary to correlate them with wind readings and produce more accurate predictions in the future about wave heights on the lake.

“I think this will really help us with boater safety on the lake,” said NLTFPD battalion chief Mike Schwartz. He said firefighters based at Station 12 in Crystal Bay will provide a wave height reading once a day at 3 p.m.

Jack Leth, a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary, said the CGA jumped at the chance to help out when members heard the Weather Service was launching the updated recreational forecast.

“We’re doing this because as the premier recreational boating safety body on the lake we want to do what we can to help them improve their recreational forecast,” Leth said.

He said finding out what the waves are doing should increase boater safety because that information will be available to boaters both online, at the NWS Web site at www.weather.gov/reno under “recreational forecast,” and at an informational kiosk run by the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe at their boat-rental station.

The updated recreational forecast will begin running over Memorial Day Weekend (May 23-26) and continue throughout the year, Wallman said. He said it will be updated a few times throughout the day, including a night forecast for boaters headed to dinner around the lake.

Wallman also said he’s looking for additional wave spotters from Incline Village and Crystal Bay to keep the information updated and accurate.

“We’re still willing to take on some weather spotters for a hand with measuring waves,” Wallman said. “All they would need to record is the wave height from trough to crest and the frequency of the waves for about 30 seconds.”

If people are interested, they can call Wallman for information at (775) 673-8107 or e-mail him at james.wallman@noaa.gov.