Truckee Facts

Location
Located in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, Truckee is just 200 miles northeast of San Francisco, California; 100 miles east of Sacramento, California; 40 miles west of Reno, Nevada; and 12 miles north of Lake Tahoe, California.

Elevation
Downtown Truckee: 5,980 ft.
Donner Summit: 7,239 ft.
Donner Peak: 8,019 ft.
Mt. Judah: 8,243 ft.

Population
Town of Truckee: 15,781
(source: 2000 census; includes Norden and Donner Lake)

Climate
Average Summer Temperature:
40-79 degrees Fahrenheit
Average Winter Temperature:
17-42 degrees Fahrenheit
Average Total Snowfall:
206 inches
Average Total Precipitation:
32 inches (source: Western Regional Climate Center)

Coldest Spot in the Nation?
Truckee has often earned the reputation as one of the chilliest spots in the nation. While it may be true, it really doesn't give a true picture of Truckee's pristine California weather pattern. Nestled between the peaks of the Sierra, Truckee's plateau often gets an inversion, whereby cold air is trapped overnight; thus the extreme, cold temperatures in the wee hours of the morning. As the sun begins to rise, so does the temperature, creating daytime highs 30-plus degrees above the lows.

Terrain
The Truckee Donner area has expansive granite mountain, vista, meadow, and lake terrain.

Town Boundary
34 square miles of largely developed land in the eastern portion of Nevada County.