SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – The body of the last person missing from a boat that capsized on Lake Tahoe in California during a sudden and powerful weekend thunderstorm was found Monday, bringing the death toll to eight.
Ten people were on board the 27-foot (8-meter) gold Chris-Craft vessel when it flipped Saturday afternoon near D.L. Bliss State Park on the lake’s southwest edge as the storm whipped up high waves, U.S. Coast Guard officials said.
Two people were rescued immediately and taken to a hospital in unknown condition. Six bodies were recovered later Saturday and a seventh body was found Sunday evening, according to the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office. Divers searched a section of Lake Tahoe and found the last body Monday afternoon.
The names of the victims won’t be released until family members are notified, Sgt. Kyle Parker said.
Drowning and other accidental deaths have occurred in recent years on the lake, but boating accidents with numerous fatalities are rare. The South Lake Tahoe Police Department told KCRA-TV in 2022 there are an average of six deaths on the lake each summer, though there were a record 15 fatalities in 2021. The department couldn’t immediately provide updated numbers.
The intensity of the thunderstorm surprised even forecasters, who had predicted some rain but nothing like the squall that lashed the southern part of the lake around 3 p.m., said meteorologist Matthew Chyba with the National Weather Service office in Reno, Nevada. Winds topped 35 mph (56 kph) and waves swelled up more than 8 feet (2.5 meters).
“We weren’t expecting it to be so strong,” Chyba said.
He said temperatures in the area were far below normal for this time of year, which could have contributed to the unstable air mass.
Eight-foot waves on Tahoe is “pretty significant,” Chyba said. “They were really rocking the lake.”
Lake Tahoe is a popular summer recreation destination for boaters, kayakers and paddleboarders. The pristine lake with very cold water straddles California and Nevada and is one of the deepest in the country, second only to Oregon’s Crater Lake.
Officials haven’t shared any details about the group on the boat that capsized, or said whether the vessel was rented or owned.
Saturday’s storm cleared out within about two hours.
AP
