Tamarack, formerly known as Camp Tamarack, is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

Calaveras County, California Calaveras County (), officially the County of Calaveras, is a county in both the Gold Country and High Sierra regions of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 45,292. The county seat is San Andreas. Angels C ...

in the United States. It was founded in the 1920s. A nearby weather station, located across the

Alpine County , other_name = , settlement_type = List of counties in California, County , image_skyline = , image_flag = Flag of Alpine County, California.svg , flag_size = , image_seal ...

line, has been the site of several United States meteorological records. Tamarack is located at an elevation of , on the west slope of the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

near Bear Valley and south of

South Lake Tahoe South Lake Tahoe is the most populous city in El Dorado County, California, United States, in the Sierra Nevada. The city's population was 21,330 at the 2020 census, down from 21,403 at the 2010 census. The city, along the southern edge of Lake ...

Climate

The Tamarack weather station was located at an elevation of ("upon the Summit" according to the first observer) and operated by PG&E employees from 1903 to 1948; its exact location is uncertain, but it is believed to have been located between Lower Blue Lake and Tamarack Lake, approximately 11 miles southeast of Kirkwood Ski Resort. Here, the greatest snow depth ever recorded was measured at the Tamarack station: in January 1911, of snow fell, leading to a snow depth in March of .Christopher C. Burt, ''Extreme Weather: A Guide & Record Book'', page 77: "...the deepest snow depth ever recorded in North America, belongs to Tamarack, California. Here, not far from the Kirkwood Ski Resort, 390ʺ fell in January 1911. This led to a level snow depth of 451ʺ (37.5 feet) by March of that year. Tamarack also holds California's greatest seasonal catch on 884ʺ in the notoriously wet winter of 1906-1907."Sierra Nevada Virtual Museum
/ref> Tamarack also holds the record for greatest seasonal snowfall in California: during the winter of 1906−1907, it received of snow.Charles Nevers Holmes, ''In New York City Were the Snowiest Place'', in ''Tychos'' (1920), page 20: "And, at Tamarack, California, about a mile and one-half above sea level, there was a record of a ''snowfall of 73 1/2 feet which fell during'' the winter of 1906-1907. Now, a snowfall of 73 1/2 feet, of 883 inches, is certainly considerable..." Tamarack has a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of an ocean, ge ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''Dsc'') with mild to warm summers coupled with chilly nights and moderately cold winter days with frigid nights and extremely heavy annual snowfall averaging .

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in California Unincorporated communities in Calaveras County, California