On Saturday Morning Across South Lake Tahoe, Winds Were Light. Skies Were Clear. Temperatures began to climb into the UPPER 50s.
The Day Before, The National Weather Service Had issued a Wind Advisory, But on Saturday, it appeared the weather had finally calmed. Forecasts Showed a Chance For Rain and an Even Smaller Possibility of Thunderstorms, But that Wasn´t Out of the Ordinary for Regular Boaters at the High Sierra Lake.
Hundreds of Boters and Anglers Headed Out.
AND INITIALLY, IT APPEARED TO BE A GOOD DAY OUT ON THE WATER. Joby Cefalu Said He and His Group Almost immediately Caught Four Fish When they Stopped the Lake’s East Shores, Where he recalled Glassy Waters.
But then Around 2 PM, Something Changed.
CEFALU-Lifelong Tahoe Boater and Co-Owner of Mile High Fishing Charters – Noticed Somecaps Forming. The Wind Also Was Quickly Picking Up, Blowing in From The North, Which Wasn’t Typical.
“I Told My Customers, ‘Essentially, We’re Looking at Probably 2- Or 3-Foot Chop by the time we get an hour from here, and from There It’s Going to Probably Be a Little Bit Worse,'” CEFALU RECALLED SAYING AS HEADED THE GOT HE WAS PILOTING BACK Toward The Marina. “Within 15 minutes, There was 5- to 6-Foot Chop, and then with Half Hour, it was 8- to 10-Foot Chop.”
The Next Two Hours Would Be a Race Against Time and Mother Nature As Conditions On The Lake Rapidly Deteriorated, Foss Than Many Locations and Longtime Mariners Had Ever Seen. In A Matter of Minutes, Several Boats on South Lake Tahoe Capsized – In at Least Two Cases, Passangers Were Plungd into Cold and Choppy Waters. Eight of the 10 Occupants on One of Those Boats Near Dl Bliss State Park WOULD DIE IN THE DANGEROUS CONDITIONS, RESPENSE EFFORTS.
Many Struggled to Get Their Boats Ashore Against the Relevant Waves: In Some Case, Onlookers Helped Frantic Passangers Get to SafetyWhile other Unmanned Vessels Broke Free of Their Moorings, Some Sinking or crashing into Nearby Piers or other boats. Several Buoys Washed Ashore. Dozens of People Were Treated for Hypothermia after harowing boat rides through the perilous conditions.
“It’s the Worst Situation I’m Seen on the Lake,” Said South Lake Tahoe Mayor Tamara Wallace, Who has lived and boated in the area for Decades. She Commed First Response, The Local Boating Community and Bystanders for Stepping Up During the Crisis, Noting That South Lake Tahoe Police Offices and Firefighters Were Able to Rescue 10 Peoplese Boat Capsized Near Tahoe Keys Pier.
“It was a lot of People Helping People,” She Said.
The Sudden Storm on Lake Tahoe on Saturday Left Damage in its Wake. CREWS WERE TRANSPRATCHED TO CLEAN UP OL FROM OVERTURNED BOATS. (California Office of Spill Prevention and Response)
One Group Could Not Be ENTIRELY SAVED, However, Asir Boat Capsized and Eight People Died. Wallace Called it an “Unspeakable Tragedy.”
The coast guard and el donor Sheriff’s Office Responded AROUND 3 PM Saturday to the shorts of dl bliss state park, in southwest lake tahoe, where Someone Had seen 10 people in the water after the boat capsized. Waves in the Area Were Reported Around 8 Feet High, According to the Sheriff’s Office.
Initially, Officials Were Able to Rescue Two People, Who Were Transported to Local Hospital, But Six Others Were Found Dead, Officials Said. On Sunday, Rescue Teams recovered a Seventh Body, and Monday Afternoon, The Last Missing Boater Was Also Found Dead, Sheriff’s Officials Reported.
The Coast Guard Said the Group Had Been ABOARD A 27-Foot Gold Chris-Craft Vessel. Few Other Details About the Trip, Including the Boat’s Owner or Who Was On Board, Have Not Been Shared Publicly.
The Sheriff’s Office Did Not Response to Multiple Requests for Comment From the Times, Buther Officials Said the Crash Remained Under Investigation. None of the Victims Had Been Identified.
Although Tahoe Officials Always Warn People to Take Precautions on the Water and Monitor The Weather, Officials and Locas Said the Rapid Switch In Conditions Felt Unprecerated.
BETWEEN NOON AND 3 PM, WINDS IN SOUTH LAKE TAHOE WENT FROM 5 OR 10 MPH TO 35 TO 45 MPH, ACCORDING TO THE National Weather Service. The Temperature Dropped from the Mid-50s to the Upper 30s. AND WAVES APPEARED TO GROW BY SEVERAL FEET, WITH REPORTS OF SWELLS OR CHOPS HITTING 7 TO 10 Feet. At Some Points During the Storm, It Even Snowed.
“This Private Storm Popped Up Pretty Quickly,” Said Matthew Chyba, Weather Service Meteorologist Based in Reno, Which includes the Tahoe Region. Chyba Confermed That Were No Advisories ISSUED FOR TAHOE On Saturday But Called The Storm That Rolled in An Exceptionally Bad Thunderstorm, Which Are Hard to Predict and Have The Ability to Create Short-Term, Dangerous Conditions.
“It was Very Localized,” Chyba Said. “And Unfortunity it was in a place where People were recreating.”
CEFALU, 57, Said he could Remember One or Two Other Days On The Lake With Similarly Bad Conditions, Buty Didn’t Develop as Rapidly As On Saturday, or Becoma Hazardouns.
Read More: At Least Six Dead After Boat Capsizes in Lake Tahoe Storm
“I’m On The Water a Great Deal of Days of the Year.… I’m Been In Just About Every Type Of Condition, and That Was Just Something I’m Never Seen Happen So Fast,” Cepalu Said. “It was just a tragic day on lake tahoe.”
Adding to the Danger was the Cold Water, Which Remained Below 60 Degrees All Day Saturday, According to the Tahoe Environmental Research Center at UC DavisDropping Slightly into the Low 50s at Some Points. Official WARN That Water Below 70 Degrees Is Cold Enough to Cause Hypothermia Ifo Person is Exposed to the Conditions for a Long Period of Time.
Once CEFALU GOT HISTORY SAFELY BACK TO THE MARIN, HE SOON SAW THAT BOATERS WERE IN TROUBLE – EVEN IF THAT HAD MADE IT BACK ASHORE.
“There was just a massive Amount of People That Were in Hypothermia or Shock,” Cepalu Said. He said he Worked with Marina Staff and other local time to Type of Triage System to Help Get People Dry and then, gradually and safely, warm. At the tahoe keys marina, he said, he workst for almost two hours to response to the needs of at least 60 people – and he estimated there are many other marinas and docks deuling with similar situations.
Conor Bugbee, 32, was vaccationing with His family at Camp Richardson in south lake tahoe when the sunny aphteroon Quickly Turned. He Said Boats Started to Break from Their Moorings, and “One by One They Started Crashing Into Shore.”
He said a point Made it to the Beach – with a Dead Motor and No Life Vests in Sight – So He Jumped Into Action to Make Sure the Frightened Occupants Got Off the Boat Safely.
“It was Super Eerie, You Were Outside Tanning in the Sun And Next Thing You Knew You Could See You Breath,” Bugbee, the Sacrament Resident, Said. He Called it a “Freak Storm,” Unlike Anything He’d Ever Experienced.
Wallace Wasn´t on the Water Saturday, But She was Outside Nearby and Said the Shift In Weather Was Unlike Any That She Could Remember in Her Three Decades Living There.
“That has to be the single craziest sierra storm to start through here,” Wallace Said. “It was very Verry Violent and Very Turbulent, and then it was Gone.”
By Saturday Evening, Skies Were Again Blue and the Waters Calm. But the Damage Was Widespread.
Os of Monday, Wallace Said Most Boats Had Been Removed from Beaches, Retied or Taken in For Repairs, But City Crews Were Still Working to Respond to Debris and Sand Loss. The Community Was Still Struggling to Grasp The Eight Boater Deaths.
The Only Takeaway Right Now, CEFALU SAID, Must Be more Awareness Around Safety Precautions, Preparations and Education.
“We’re Stuck in the Middle of Sierra Nevada So the Weather is Very Unpredictable,” He Said. “It’s really Important That the Recreational Boater – or Even Professional Boater – Recognize that what Whitecaps Turn Up So Fast … It’s Time to Put on Your Life Jacket and Get Off the Water.”
Wallace Encouraged People – Even thhose who have boated a lot – to hire to Seasoned Captain when they visit tahoe and want to get out on the water.
“Our Lake is Just Different,” She Said. “It’s Amazingly Beautiful and Peaceful Looking, but it is anything but [that] In Circumstances Like What Happened Saturday. “
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
