Washoe Lake
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| Washoe Lake | |
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| Location | Washoe County, Nevada |
| Primary inflows | several small streams |
| Primary outflows | Steamboat Creek |
| Basin countries | United States |
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.
Washoe Lake is fed by several small streams which issue from the Virginia Range 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.
Washoe Lake is known for its high wind speeds. Mark Twain wrote that "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.
Washoe Lake is popular with windsurfers, kiteboarders and (lake level permitting) small boat sailors.
