It’s so cold in Tahoe icicles aren’t even melting. Photo/LTN

By Kathryn Reed

Furnaces may be in overdrive and woodpiles dwindling because of the cold in Lake Tahoe, but no records are being set.

The low Sunday in South Lake Tahoe was 0 degrees. The record for Nov. 29 is minus 9 set in 2010. On Nov. 28 the low was minus 1, while the record from 1972 is minus 2.

In Tahoe City, Sunday’s low of 6 missed tying the record by two degrees. That 4-degree record was set on Nov. 29, 1975. The Nov. 28 low was 7; the record of 5 was established in 1975.

“Last week we had that cold storm go through and it just lingered around for a few days. We haven’t been able to warm up because partly the snow cover and lack of wind, and no warm air mass,” meteorologist Mark Deutschendorf with the National Weather Service in Reno told Lake Tahoe News.

While the forecast is far from a heat wave, Monday’s overnight low in South Lake is expected to be 19 degrees. Daytime highs will be in the 40s, with Wednesday reaching the 50s before the next storm blows in on Thursday.

Deutschendorf called it a “quick shot of winter”, with typical December temps returning for the weekend.

The late Thursday-early Friday system is expected to drop 2 to 4 inches of snow at lake level, with 6-12 inches at higher elevations.