Washoe Lake
Encyclopedia
Washoe Lake is a lake
located in the Washoe Valley of Washoe County, Nevada
. It is between Reno
and Carson City
(nearer to Carson City). It is a very shallow lake, and the surface area can vary greatly from year to year.
to the east and the Carson Range
to the west. It drains into Steamboat Creek, which runs north to the Truckee River
, although much of the water is diverted for irrigation use.
The same high wind speeds have remained to this day and are capable of overturning commercial vehicles traveling along U.S. Highway 395, which runs along the western shore of Washoe Lake.
Lake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...
located in the Washoe Valley of Washoe County, Nevada
Washoe County, Nevada
Washoe County is a county located in the U.S. state of Nevada. The population was 421,407 at the 2010 census. Its county seat is Reno. Washoe County includes the Reno-Sparks metropolitan area.-History:...
. It is between Reno
Reno, Nevada
Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The city has a population of about 220,500 and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area...
and Carson City
Carson City, Nevada
The Consolidated Municipality of Carson City is the capital of the state of Nevada. The words Consolidated Municipality refer to a series of changes in 1969 which abolished Ormsby County and merged all the settlements contained within its borders into Carson City. Since that time Carson City has...
(nearer to Carson City). It is a very shallow lake, and the surface area can vary greatly from year to year.
Watershed
Washoe Lake is fed by several small streams which issue from the Virginia RangeVirginia Range
The Virginia Range is a mountain range nearly entirely in Storey County, Nevada, that is a portion of the drainage divide between the Truckee River and the Carson River . Truckee Meadows and the Washoe Valley are to the west and the Lahontan Valley is east...
to the east and the Carson Range
Carson Range
The Carson Range is a spur of the Sierra Nevada in eastern California and western Nevada that starts at Luther Pass and West Carson Canyon and goes to the Truckee River...
to the west. It drains into Steamboat Creek, which runs north to the Truckee River
Truckee River
The Truckee River is a stream in the U.S. states of California and Nevada. The river is about long. Its endorheic drainage basin is about , of which about are in Nevada. The Truckee is the sole outlet of Lake Tahoe and drains part of the high Sierra Nevada, emptying into Pyramid Lake in the Great...
, although much of the water is diverted for irrigation use.
Mark Twain
Washoe Lake is known for its high wind speeds.- Mark TwainMark TwainSamuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
wrote:-
- "A Washoe wind is by no means a trifling matter. It blows flimsy houses down, lifts shingle roofs occasionally, rolls up tin ones like sheet music, now and then blows a stage-coach over and spills the passengers; and tradition says the reason there are so many bald people there is, that the wind blows the hair off their heads while they are looking skyward after their hats."
-
The same high wind speeds have remained to this day and are capable of overturning commercial vehicles traveling along U.S. Highway 395, which runs along the western shore of Washoe Lake.