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Queen Creek, Arizona

19 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1907 and the latest in 1994. It stands in the Chandler census division. It lies in ZIP code area 85142. The Survey maps it on the Chandler Heights quadrangle. 59,519 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,404 feet above sea level.

Queen Creek within Maricopa County

On record in Queen Creek

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 1 record

Population over time

2 figures

Queen Creek grew from 26,361 to 59,519 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
201026,361
202059,519+33,158 (+126%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 19 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

151 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 151 fires within 5 miles of Queen Creek between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,329 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 9 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined129
Arson/incendiarism9
Recreation and ceremony3
Debris and open burning3
Equipment and vehicle use2
Natural2
Fireworks1
Misuse of fire by a minor1
Railroad operations and maintenance1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
30 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreQueen Creek Fire Department77540
27 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreArizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management - State OfficeNOT NAMED
21 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreQueen Creek Fire Department74993
20 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreArizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management - State Officenot named
17 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreArizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management - State Officenot named
16 September 1994Debris and open burning2.0 acresArizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management - State Officenot named
13 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreArizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management - State Office72843
13 September 2013Debris and open burningunder an acreArizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management - State OfficeSAPPLE MOUNTAIN

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Maricopa County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 10 workings within 5 miles of Queen Creek: 5 occurrences, 4 prospects, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Copper, Gold, Gypsum-Anhydrite, Gold, Copper, Gold, Stone. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Bee Tree Eldorado MineSilver, LeadProspect
Buckhorn-Higley GeothermalGeothermalProspect
Germania GroupCopper, Gold, StoneOccurrence
Lucky StrikeGoldOccurrenceUnknown
Rodney-Carter GroupGold, CopperProspect
Superior Marble MillMarble, DimensionProducer
CarterCopper, GoldProspect
Higley BasinGypsum-AnhydriteOccurrence1973
Higley BasinGypsum-AnhydriteOccurrence
Wright GroupCopper, GoldOccurrence

Every working recorded in Maricopa County

Storms near this place

17 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Queen Creek in 17 storm reports between 1995 and 2022: 10 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail, 1 funnel cloud, 1 heavy rain. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
August 2003Thunderstorm WindQueen Creek$300,000Severe thunderstorms struck this area with high winds blowing down power poles and lines. Homes and businesses were damaged. Salt River Project reported about 200 power poles down in the area near Ellsworth and Ocotillo road, Up to 5,000 customers were left without power. Power was restored the following day to 2,000 households and fully restored by Monday. Hundreds of mature trees blown down and onto streets and homes. Windshields on a number of vehicles were blown out. Winds caused a building to collapse, killing a horse. Several aircraft were overturned by high winds, and a construction trailer in Queen Creek was destroyed.
September 1995HailQueen Creek$100,000A wet microburst hit the town of Queen Creek. A tree was blown over onto a house. A large potato storage shed was destroyed. Wood and metal from the shed along with hail were blown into 12 nearby school buses damaging them all. An office roof was torn off at Queen Creek High School. The high school also had four other roofs and numerous air conditioning units damaged as well as broken windows. An estimated 4,000 to 6,000 acres of cotton in nearby fields were destroyed by wind and hail.
November 2019Tornado (EF0)Queen Creek$80,000A large Pacific upper low moving east across Arizona was accompanied by a strong cold front that moved across the greater Phoenix metropolitan area during the early morning hours on November 29th. Due to high levels of wind shear and instability, the front generated several tornadoes, one of which briefly moved through the community of Queen Creek at around 0450MST. According to a NWS employee, the tornado resulted in moderate damage, downing a number of trees as well as knocking down several power poles. Some roof damage was also noted. Fortunately there were no injuries reported. Damage surveys indicated that the tornado was on the ground less than 10 minutes and had a short path, with a width between 50 and 100 yards.
August 2012Thunderstorm WindQueen Creek$25,000Isolated to scattered thunderstorms developed across portions of the greater Phoenix metropolitan area during the late evening hours on August 14th. Partly due to the excessive heat that occurred during the day, the thunderstorms were able to generate strong, gusty and damaging microburst winds well into the evening hours. According to Brad Greer, Park Ranger with the town of Queen Creek, a large metal football light field pole was blown down during the evening thunderstorms. Time of the storms was estimated to be near 1030 pm, and the wind gusts were estimated to be at least 65 knots. The light pole was located at the Queen Creek Middle School in Queen Creek, at the intersection of Queen Creek and Ellsworth Roads. Fortunately, no injuries occurred due to the falling light pole.
July 2007Flash FloodQueen Creek$20,000Heavy rains fell at Queen Creek, with 1.61 inches at the Queen Creek landfill and 1.54 inches at East Maricopa Floodway and Queen Creek Road. High water forced road closures at Hunt and Ellsworth and the Magic Ranch subdivision. At least one car stalled in high water at Hunt Highway and Hawes.
September 2008Thunderstorm WindQueen Creek$12,000About 6 power poles were downed, resulting in power outages for as many as 4500 customers in Queen Creek.
September 2022Thunderstorm WindQueen Creek$5,000Multiple downed trees reported in the Villages of Queen Creek Subdivision. Wind speeds estimated around 60 mph. No injuries were reported.
August 2018Thunderstorm WindQueen Creek$5,000Thunderstorms with strong gusty outflow winds developed over the southeast portion of the greater Phoenix area during the late evening hours on August 9th, and some of the storms continued through midnight and into the very early morning hours on August 10th. Some of the stronger storms affected the town of Queen Creek. According to a report from the public, at about midnight, or 0000MST, gusty winds estimated to be as high as 70 mph snapped in half 3 Palo Verde Trees in Queen Creek. The trees were snapped just south of the Queen Creek Middle School and just southeast of the intersection of the Ellsworth Loop Road and Queen Creek Road. A Severe Thunderstorm Warning was not in effect at the time.
August 2003Thunderstorm WindQueen Creek$5,000no account filed
October 2022HailQueen Creek-Hailstones up to 1 inch in diameter reported near Ellsworth Rd. and Riggs Rd in Queen Creek. No damages or injuries were reported.
July 2021Thunderstorm WindQueen Creek-The Rittenhouse SRP mesonet station in Queen Creek recorded a peak gust of 61 mph as severe thunderstorms moved through the area.
July 2021HailQueen Creek-Video on social media showed hail of various sizes falling in Queen Creek near Ocotillo Rd. with the largest hail stones estimated by the user at 1 inch diameter. No damages or injuries were reported.
August 2006Heavy RainQueen Creek-Showers and thunderstorms were scattered across portions of the county, with brief heavy rainfall in localized areas. Hurricane Ileana, spinning in the eastern Pacific, produced impulses that passed through the state. These impulses, together with a very moist airmass, helped trigger these storms.A spotter in East Mesa reported .5 inch of rain in only 15 minutes. An automatic gauge in Queen Creek picked up over 2 inches and a spotter in Wickenburg reported .62 inch of rain in less than one hour. One of the heaviest rainfall rates was reported in East Phoenix. Runoff from these heavy rains led to a rapid rise in the Indian Bend Wash during the day. At one time there was about 4 feet of water. Two motorists had to be rescued from their vehicles. Lightning sparked several fires and caused spotty power and phone outages.
August 1997Thunderstorm WindQueen Creek-Power line downed near Crismon Road and Queen Creek Road.
September 1995Thunderstorm WindQueen Creek-A wet microburst hit the town of Queen Creek. A tree was blown over onto a house. A large potato storage shed was destroyed. Wood and metal from the shed along with hail were blown into 12 nearby school buses damaging them all. An office roof was torn off at Queen Creek High School. The high school also had four other roofs and numerous air conditioning units damaged as well as broken windows. An estimated 4,000 to 6,000 acres of cotton in nearby fields were destroyed by wind and hail.
August 1997Funnel CloudQueen Creek-no account filed
July 1996Thunderstorm WindQueen Creek-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Maricopa County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Sanokai Village2.2 miles19
Germann2.8 miles20
Chandler Heights3.7 miles19
Higley6.1 miles20
Nortons Corner9.2 miles20
Hacienda Solano Park9.2 miles20
Colonial Coronita9.4 miles20
Sonora Town10.2 miles20

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on Queen CreekAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q985299The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 9868. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.