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San Carlos, Arizona

12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1986. It stands in the San Carlos census division. It lies in ZIP code area 85550. It stands on Gilson Wash. The Survey maps it on the San Carlos quadrangle. 3,987 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,628 feet above sea level.

San Carlos within Gila County

On record in San Carlos

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

3 figures

San Carlos grew from 3,716 to 3,987 between 2000 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
20003,716
20104,038+322 (+9%)
20203,987-51 (-1%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 12 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

5,628 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 5,628 fires within 5 miles of San Carlos between 1992 and 2020, burning about 48,729 acres in total. 65 started naturally. 2451 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
Arson/incendiarism2451
Missing data/not specified/undetermined1321
Misuse of fire by a minor908
Debris and open burning547
Smoking161
Natural65
Fireworks62
Recreation and ceremony60
Equipment and vehicle use34
Other causes11
Railroad operations and maintenance6
Power generation/transmission/distribution2

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
9 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresSan Carlos AgencyHONGA
8 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined4.5 acresSan Carlos AgencyWINDY
8 September 2020Naturalunder an acreSan Carlos AgencyMOONER
7 September 2001Smokingunder an acreSan Carlos AgencyTOOEARLY
7 September 2000Debris and open burningunder an acreSan Carlos AgencySCORPION
5 September 2020Arson/incendiarismunder an acreSan Carlos AgencySIDING
5 September 2005Arson/incendiarismunder an acreSan Carlos AgencyJOK
30 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSan Carlos AgencyTRACK

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Gila County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 20 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 20 workings within 5 miles of San Carlos: 7 occurrences, 5 prospects, 4 past producers, 3 producers. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Diatomite, Copper, Semiprecious Gemstone, Iron. 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
Elmer ClaimsGoldProspect
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
PeridotGemstoneProducer
Peridot MesaOlivine, GemstoneProducer
Iron ClaimsIronProspect
Iron Claims MineIronOccurrenceReplacement
San Carlos DepositGypsum-AnhydritePast ProducerGypsum
San Carlos DepositGypsum-AnhydriteProspect
Tufa QuarryPumicePast Producer
Unnamed Pumice DepositPumiceOccurrencePumice

Every working recorded in Gila County

Storms near this place

18 since 2000

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names San Carlos in 18 storm reports between 2000 and 2025: 9 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail, 3 flash flood, 2 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
January 2010FloodSan Carlos$200,000Numerous reports of flooding in Southern Gila County. Residents were evacuated along the wash south of San Carlos. Residents near Tonto Basin were stranded for several days after flows of about 60,000 cfs were measured along the Tonto Creek. By Monday, January 25th, the flow was down to about 550 cfs.
September 2012Flash FloodSan Carlos$100,000Scattered thunderstorms developed across portions of southern Gila county during the late afternoon hours on September 4th. Due to the very humid and unstable nature of the atmosphere, the storms generated excessive rainfall with peak rain rates in excess of 2 inches. The heavy rains affected San Carlos as well as State Route 170 east of the town. Radar indicated that up to 2 inches of rain fell north of San Carlos between 4 pm and 5 pm, and a Flash Flood Warning was issued at 425 pm. According to local law enforcement, at 515 pm flash flooding was occurring along State Route 170 in San Carlos. Multiple people were being rescued due to high and swiftly moving water crossing the highway.
August 2011Thunderstorm WindSan Carlos$100,000Strong thunderstorms affected the community of San Carlos during the late afternoon hours on August 12th. Damaging microburst winds were produced by the storms. According to local law enforcement personnel, gusty winds estimated to be around 60 knots blew down numerous power poles in and around San Carlos. In addition, the strong winds blew down a number of trees in the community.
July 2007Thunderstorm WindSan Carlos$50,000Roofing materials blown off several homes; mobile home damaged in White Rock, near San Carlos.
August 2015Thunderstorm WindSan Carlos$5,000Thunderstorms developed across southern Gila county during the early afternoon hours on August 7th and some of them produced gusty outflow winds measured as high as 60 mph. Some of the storms affected the area around San Carlos; according to local law enforcement strong gusty winds blew down live power lines in residential areas about 1 mile northeast of San Carlos. Locally heavy rain was also present, covering some of the roads and producing minor street flooding in the area.
August 2008Thunderstorm WindSan Carlos$2,000Power outage due to strong winds. Possible funnel cloud near mile marker 256 on highway 70.
September 2025Thunderstorm WindSan Carlos-Mesonet station QSCA3 San Carlos No. 1 in San Carlos measured a 62 mph peak gust.
August 2024Flash FloodSan Carlos-Sevenmile Wash rose approximately 2 ft, making low water crossings across the wash impassable. Timing estimated from radar estimated precipitation. No damages nor injuries were reported.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindSan Carlos-A 64 mph wind gust was measured at the San Carlos RAWS station. Timing estimated from radar.
July 2019Thunderstorm WindSan Carlos-Monsoon thunderstorms developed across the higher terrain of eastern Arizona, including southern Gila County, during late afternoon and evening hours on July 22. One of the stronger storms generated very gusty outflow winds that impacted the town of San Carlos. According to a mesonet weather station, a wind gust to 61 mph was recorded at 1814MST about 2 miles to the northeast of San Carlos. No damaged was reported due to the strong wind.
August 2015Thunderstorm WindSan Carlos-Scattered thunderstorms affected south central Arizona, including far southern Gila county, during the afternoon hours on August 7th. Some of the stronger storms produced gusty outflow winds in excess of 50 mph. According to the San Carlos RAWS weather station, a wind gust to 60 mph was measured at 1314MST.
July 2014HailSan Carlos-Strong thunderstorms developed across portions of southern Gila county during the evening hours on July 8th, and they affected the community of San Carlos. The storms produced locally heavy rain and large hail. According to local law enforcement, quarter sized hail, or hail 1 inch in diameter, was measured in San Carlos.
August 2011Heavy RainSan Carlos-Strong thunderstorms in the community of San Carlos produced locally heavy rainfall during the late afternoon and early evening hours on August 12th. Radar estimated that between 2 and 3 inches of rain fell across San Carlos, and according to local law enforcement personnel the rainfall led to flooding of streets across the community. Additionally, the heavy rain caused area washes to run heavily.
July 2008Flash FloodSan Carlos-Flooding along San Carlos river just south of San Carlos.
May 2007HailSan Carlos-Local police reported large hail.
July 2006Heavy RainSan Carlos-Radar estimated from 3/4 to 1 inch rainfall across mainly rural areas of Southern Gila County.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindSan Carlos-The San Carlos RAWS measured 58 MPH wind gusts.
August 2000HailSan Carlos-Large hail was reported from a lookout tower. Strong winds from nearby thunderstorms moved through San Carlos at about the same time.

Every storm recorded in Gila 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
Peridot2.4 miles12
Cutter10.6 miles12
Coolidge Dam11.9 miles17
Bear Canyon Junction13.6 miles12
Rocky Junction14.2 miles11
Pinal16.1 miles20
Copper Hill17.5 miles20
Globe18.0 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 San CarlosAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2066398The 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 10812. 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.