August checklist
- Keep deep watering on schedule
- Walk the property and look for fading, thinning or discolored crowns
- Have dead pines identified and removed
- Book fall removals, crane work and stump grinding
- Check Zone 0 for needles, leaves and woodpiles
- Plan fall pruning for the dormant season
- Note any limb that has started to droop
Tahoe's nights are a different world: the Glenbrook mean low in August is 50.0 F against 58.1 F at the Reno airport, about 8 degrees cooler. In the valleys, the heat from July carries on, with highs near 92 F.
August weather at five stations
Carson City gets 0.14 inches of precipitation and Fallon 0.15, the lowest of the five. The Reno airport has 0.24, Minden 0.26 and Glenbrook 0.22. Mean temperatures are 75.1 F at the Reno airport, 70.2 F at Carson City and 63.2 F at Glenbrook.
| Station (elevation, ft) | Mean temp (F) | Precip (in.) | Snow (in.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reno airport (4,410) | 75.1 | 0.24 | 0.0 |
| Carson City (4,761) | 70.2 | 0.14 | 0.0 |
| Minden (4,709) | 68.5 | 0.26 | 0.0 |
| Glenbrook (Tahoe) (6,350) | 63.2 | 0.22 | no normal |
| Fallon (3,965) | 72.0 | 0.15 | 0.0 |
Station normals, not town averages. NOAA flags Glenbrook's temperature normals as reduced completeness and publishes no snowfall normal there.
What the trees are doing
Trees at the end of a dry summer show their condition in the crown. Evergreens that fade from green to yellow to red-brown may have been attacked by bark beetles, which tunnel under the bark and hit hardest after drought. We have not sourced beetle flight dates for this calendar, so we give none. See bark beetles in pines and removing dead pines.
Jobs that fit August
If a tree is dead, a certified arborist can confirm the cause and decide whether it should come down. Removals and crane work are easier to arrange before fall fills the calendar. Dead wooding fits any month, and live pruning for deciduous trees is best saved for the dormant season. For elms, see elm leaf beetle; a healthy, watered elm usually survives defoliation.
Fire and wind
August brings the same dry vegetation as July. Keep Zone 0 clean as University of Nevada, Reno Extension describes, and keep woodpiles away from the house. Have an arborist look at large trees close to a home before wind season, because wind does not cause defects, but it finds them.
Valley versus lake
Lakeside trees see cool nights and short growing days, so check crown color against neighbors of the same species rather than against the calendar. In the Tahoe Basin, TRPA allows removal of a dead tree that could fall on a house without a permit. Call 775.232.8243 for a free estimate. Two ISA Certified Arborists are on staff, and one of them assesses every job before work begins.
Sources
- NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020, monthly (Reno airport USW00023185, Carson City USC00261485, Minden USC00265191, Glenbrook USC00263205, Fallon Exp Stn USC00262780) (pulled October 17, 2026)
- Nevada Forest Health Highlights 2023 (USDA Forest Service and Nevada Division of Forestry) (read October 1, 2026)
- University of Nevada, Reno Extension: Living With Fire (SP-23-07) (read October 17, 2026)
- Tahoe Regional Planning Agency: Trees and Defensible Space (read October 1, 2026)