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El Dorado National Forest, Lake Tahoe. (Photo: Katy Grimes for California Globe)

Leftist Media Blames Deadly California Avalanche on ‘Climate Change’

Media is ignoring weather and atmospheric conditions, as well as the four distinct seasons in California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range

By Katy Grimes, February 24, 2026 4:00 am

The lefty media predictably is blaming California’s most deadly avalanche in state history on… Climate change. Because the word “weather” has been declared verboten. Yet “weather” is the proper word for atmospheric conditions.

Here are a few headlines declaring climate crisis:

Lake Tahoe avalanche explained by warm weather | Scientific American. “Many scientists expect rising temperatures from climate change to increase dangerous avalanches…”
California’s Winter Storms Do Little to Ease Climate Change … – KQED. The string of storms that have swept through California has brought much-needed water and snow throughout the state, but climate scientists say.
Did climate change factor into the Lake Tahoe avalanche? Turns … – NPR. As the climate warms, scientists are trying to better understand avalanche risks.

And now we have “snow droughts!” California gets snow every year, and sometimes it comes later. It’s not a “snow drought” to get snow in February.

Snow drought helped set stage for deadly avalanche near Lake Tahoe / NBC Bay Area. A weeks long “snow drought” in Northern California’s Sierra Nevada helped set the stage for Tuesday’s deadly avalanche.”The new snow did not have time to bond to the earlier layer before the avalanche near Lake Tahoe killed at least eight backcountry skiers, said Craig Clements, a meteorology professor at San Jose State University.”However, “Clements said this week’s avalanche is fairly typical for California’s Sierra Nevada, and he doesn’t believe it can be linked to climate change.”…after calling it a “snow drought.”

Deadliest U.S. Avalanche in Decades Raises Alarms About Changing Climate Conditions.

Learn more about the massive avalanche near Lake Tahoe that killed eight skiers and is exposing how snow droughts and climate change are increasing avalanche risk.

You can see the theme here – media is ignoring weather and atmospheric conditions, as well as the four distinct seasons in California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration  keeps historical records of weather and atmospheric conditions. Here is what they have on weather in Truckee, CA by month, 1991-2020:

Notice that the 30-year average high temperatures and low temperatures in January and February are highs 41 degrees to 44 degrees, and lows -23 to -28 degrees. Brrrrrr.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration records on Truckee, CA. (Photo: NOAA)

And here is what the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has on Truckee’s historical weather records, 2004-2026.

I remember being at our Tahoe cabin in winter 2017 with the record precipitation of 66.3 inches, which translated into 38 record freezing days in winter. It was a record snow winter.

Truckee weather records, 2004-2026. (Photo: NOAA)

Was that climate change? The short honest answer is yes, but that is because weather and atmospheric conditions change every year, and in California, dramatically every season. And some years we have really rough snow conditions and avalanches.

Here’s our cabin in January 2017 – if you can find it:

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