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Rio Rico, Arizona

20 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1905 and the latest in 1996. It stands in the Nogales census division. It lies in ZIP code area 85648. It stands on Sonoita Creek. The Survey maps it on the Rio Rico quadrangle. 20,549 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 3,481 feet above sea level.

Rio Rico within Santa Cruz County

Population over time

2 figures

Rio Rico grew from 18,962 to 20,549 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
201018,962
202020,549+1,587 (+8%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 20 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

111 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 111 fires within 5 miles of Rio Rico between 1993 and 2020, burning about 236 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 3 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/undetermined92
Power generation/transmission/distribution4
Equipment and vehicle use3
Arson/incendiarism3
Natural3
Debris and open burning3
Other causes1
Smoking1
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
26 September 2002Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreArizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management - State OfficeCOCHISE
20 September 2003Debris and open burningunder an acreArizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management - State OfficeTIRE
7 August 1995Natural1.0 acresCoronado National ForestRATTANY
5 August 2019Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreRio Rico Fire DistrictNOT NAMED
4 August 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreTubac Fire District181041
23 August 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreArizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management - State Officenot named
2 August 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreArizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management - State Officenot named
9 July 2003Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreArizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management - State OfficeMAGIC 8

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Santa Cruz County

Mines and quarries near this place

8 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of Rio Rico: 5 past producers, 1 producer, 1 prospect, 1 occurrence. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Tungsten, Silver, Copper, Gold, Copper, Silver. 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
Grand CentralLead, Silver, GoldPast Producer
Mountain View MineCopper, Gold, Lead, SilverPast Producer
Calabasas AreaTungstenProducerScheelite, Wolframite
ColoradoTungstenProspect
Polario and RegalSilver, Copper, GoldPast Producer
Tubuana MineCopper, Silver, GoldPast Producer
Tubutana MineCopper, SilverPast Producer1901
Wise ProspectSilver, CopperOccurrence1870

Every working recorded in Santa Cruz County

Storms near this place

22 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Rio Rico in 22 storm reports between 1997 and 2016: 12 flash flood, 6 thunderstorm wind, 4 hail. 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 2001Thunderstorm WindRio Rico$120,000no account filed
July 2006Flash FloodRio Rico$20,000At 1600 MST a trained spotter in the Community of Tubac reported that the washes were running very high and that about 2 inches of rain had fallen in that area. Again around 1600 MST the Santa Cruz County Flood Control Official reported flooding in the Community of Tumacacori. The official reported that a box culvert had overtopped near the frontage road of Interstate 19. A private residence had one foot of water enter the home and the visitor center at the Tumacacori National Monument also had a foot of water flood their property. Additionally, at 1640 MST the Santa Cruz County Flood Control Official reported that 8 inches of water was flowing over Interstate 19 at the Chavez Siding Road exit. Two vehicles were reported to be stuck in the flood water at the underpass located near the same exit.
August 2004Flash FloodRio Rico$20,000Significant rain fell in the town of Rio Rico causing significant street flooding as well as homes being flooded and property being ruined. High water flowed down the streets, causing them to be impassable. 7 homes were flooded, some with damage. The force of the water also knocked a block wall down along one backyard.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindRio Rico$5,000no account filed
August 2001HailRio Rico$5,000no account filed
July 2004Flash FloodRio Rico$3,000A county official reported that the Vereda Nebline Road was washed out and was impassable.
August 2016Flash FloodRio Rico$2,000Heavy rain caused Peck Canyon to overflow its banks and flood adjacent streets in Rio Rico.
July 2010Thunderstorm WindRio Rico$2,000Severe thunderstorm winds impacted much of Santa Cruz County. Law enforcement reported a tree was downed by the winds near the intersection of State Highway 82 and Duquesne Road. A trained spotter measured a wind gust of 60 mph near Rio Rico, and another trained spotter measured a wind gust of 58 mph at Nogales.
August 1998Thunderstorm WindRio Rico$500no account filed
September 2014Flash FloodRio Rico-Heavy rain caused flash flooding along Peck Canyon. Two males were rescued from Peck Canyon just outside of Rio Rico. Neither were injured.
September 2014Flash FloodRio Rico-Thunderstorms in the area of Rio Rico caused the overflowing of several washes which rendered parts of Pendleton Drive impassable.
May 2012HailRio Rico-Hail up to the size of pennies covered the ground in Rio Rico.
September 2009Thunderstorm WindRio Rico-A trained spotter measured a thunderstorm wind gust of 62 mph.
July 2006HailRio Rico-A trained spotter reported golf ball size hail (1.75 inches) near exit number 40 on Interstate 19.
August 2006Flash FloodRio Rico-Sonoita Wash flooded several roadways near the Town of Rio Rico, making those roads impassable.
July 2005Flash FloodRio Rico-Multiple reports of street flooding in the Town of Tubac and the Town of Rio Rico. Spotters reported rainfall amounts of 1.60 to 2.11 inches in a short period of time.
August 2004Flash FloodRio Rico-Several streets in the town of Rio Rico were closed due to high water making them impassable.
July 2000Flash FloodRio Rico-Streets impassable. Several people stranded in city park.
June 2015HailRio Rico-no account filed
August 2003Flash FloodRio Rico-no account filed
August 1997Flash FloodRio Rico-no account filed
August 1997Thunderstorm WindRio Rico-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Santa Cruz 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
Calabasas0.3 miles20
Otero4.6 miles20
Beyerville7.6 miles20
Tumacacori7.8 miles20
Carmen9.0 miles20
Nogales9.3 miles19
Tubac10.4 miles20
Alto10.6 miles23

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 Rio RicoAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1019215The 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 36810. 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.