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Typical May weather

South Lake Tahoe

California · May

Warm afternoons, freezing dawns, and half the trails still snowed in.

62° days
33° nights

about 4 rainy days · 14½ hours of daylight

What to pack

What May feels like

May is when the lower trails around the lake open and the higher ones — Desolation Wilderness, anything near the crest — very much do not. Snowmelt makes the creeks dangerous and beautiful at once, and Eagle Falls is at full volume.

Expect about 4 days with real rain — enough to notice, not enough to plan around. about 15 nights dip below freezing.

The numbers

Typical high62°
Typical low33°
Days with real rain4
Total rain1.3 in
Sunrise / sunset (mid-month)5:46 am / 8:05 pm

How May compares

See the whole year in South Lake Tahoe ›