Tamarack, California facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Tamarack
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 Tamarack
Location in California
Tamarack
Location in the United States
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| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| County | Calaveras County |
| Elevation | 6,913 ft (2,107 m) |
Tamarack, once known as Camp Tamarack, is a small place in Calaveras County, California, USA. It's an unincorporated community, which means it's not a city with its own local government. It was started in the 1920s.
Tamarack is located high up in the Sierra Nevada mountains. It sits about 6,913 feet (2,107 meters) above sea level. You can find it near Bear Valley and south of South Lake Tahoe.
A special weather station near Tamarack, just over the line in Alpine County, has set some amazing weather records for the United States!
Weather and Climate Records
Tamarack is famous for its extreme weather, especially its snowfall. A weather station, which was run by PG&E employees, collected data here for many years. This station was located at a very high elevation, about 8,060 feet (2,457 meters) above sea level. It operated from 1903 to 1948.
Snowfall Records
The Tamarack weather station holds some incredible records for snow.
- Deepest Snow Ever: In January 1911, a huge amount of snow fell – 390 inches (9.9 meters)! This led to a record-breaking snow depth of 451 inches (11.5 meters) in March of that year. Imagine snow piled up higher than a two-story building!
- Most Snow in One Winter: Tamarack also holds the record for the most snow in a single winter season in California. During the winter of 1906−1907, it received an astonishing 883 or 884 inches (22.4 or 22.5 meters) of snow. That's like getting more than 70 feet of snow!
Tamarack's Climate Type
Tamarack has a type of climate called a subarctic climate. This means it has mild to warm summers, but the nights are usually chilly. Winters are moderately cold during the day, but nights can be extremely frigid. It also gets a huge amount of snow each year, averaging about 443.7 inches (11.27 meters).
| Climate data for Tamarack, California | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 65 (18) |
70 (21) |
68 (20) |
76 (24) |
82 (28) |
88 (31) |
90 (32) |
88 (31) |
85 (29) |
86 (30) |
70 (21) |
65 (18) |
90 (32) |
| Mean maximum °F (°C) | 51 (11) |
52 (11) |
58 (14) |
63 (17) |
70 (21) |
76 (24) |
82 (28) |
81 (27) |
77 (25) |
69 (21) |
59 (15) |
53 (12) |
84 (29) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 38.4 (3.6) |
40.4 (4.7) |
44.2 (6.8) |
49.2 (9.6) |
55.9 (13.3) |
63.2 (17.3) |
72.5 (22.5) |
72.5 (22.5) |
65.1 (18.4) |
55.0 (12.8) |
44.9 (7.2) |
39.1 (3.9) |
53.4 (11.9) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 24.9 (−3.9) |
27.0 (−2.8) |
30.3 (−0.9) |
35.0 (1.7) |
41.0 (5.0) |
48.3 (9.1) |
57.2 (14.0) |
56.7 (13.7) |
50.1 (10.1) |
41.3 (5.2) |
32.7 (0.4) |
26.2 (−3.2) |
39.2 (4.0) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 11.4 (−11.4) |
13.6 (−10.2) |
16.3 (−8.7) |
20.7 (−6.3) |
26.1 (−3.3) |
33.3 (0.7) |
41.9 (5.5) |
40.9 (4.9) |
35.0 (1.7) |
27.6 (−2.4) |
20.4 (−6.4) |
13.2 (−10.4) |
25.0 (−3.9) |
| Mean minimum °F (°C) | −10 (−23) |
−5 (−21) |
−1 (−18) |
7 (−14) |
14 (−10) |
23 (−5) |
33 (1) |
32 (0) |
24 (−4) |
15 (−9) |
3 (−16) |
−5 (−21) |
−15 (−26) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −45 (−43) |
−26 (−32) |
−17 (−27) |
−8 (−22) |
0 (−18) |
2 (−17) |
24 (−4) |
14 (−10) |
14 (−10) |
−1 (−18) |
−12 (−24) |
−26 (−32) |
−45 (−43) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 8.88 (226) |
8.57 (218) |
8.06 (205) |
3.10 (79) |
2.34 (59) |
1.47 (37) |
0.76 (19) |
0.43 (11) |
1.17 (30) |
2.64 (67) |
4.81 (122) |
6.45 (164) |
48.68 (1,237) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 87.7 (223) |
91.2 (232) |
79.3 (201) |
38.9 (99) |
20.0 (51) |
6.7 (17) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
5.5 (14) |
16.0 (41) |
42.6 (108) |
69.5 (177) |
457.4 (1,163) |
| Average extreme snow depth inches (cm) | 85 (220) |
122 (310) |
125 (320) |
105 (270) |
72 (180) |
21 (53) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
3 (7.6) |
9 (23) |
20 (51) |
53 (130) |
123 (310) |
