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Sonoita, Arizona

28 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1904 and the latest in 1996. It stands in the Patagonia census division. It lies in ZIP code area 85637. The Survey maps it on the Sonoita quadrangle. 803 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 4,885 feet above sea level.

Sonoita within Santa Cruz County

Population over time

2 figures

Sonoita fell from 818 to 803 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
2010818
2020803-15 (-2%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

13 surveys from 28 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

76 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 76 fires within 5 miles of Sonoita between 1993 and 2020, burning about 7,516 acres in total. 16 started naturally. 4 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/undetermined39
Natural16
Debris and open burning4
Recreation and ceremony4
Arson/incendiarism4
Smoking3
Equipment and vehicle use3
Misuse of fire by a minor2
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
3 September 2000Arson/incendiarismunder an acreArizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management - State OfficeGARDNER
25 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSonoita-Elgin Fire DistrictNOT NAMED
21 September 2004Naturalunder an acreArizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management - State OfficeBIG BAD TREE
8 August 2012Naturalunder an acreGila District OfficeGARDENER
5 August 2011Naturalunder an acreCoronado National ForestDARK
2 August 2020Natural5.0 acresCoronado National ForestDARK CANYON
12 August 1993Naturalunder an acreGila District OfficeTWO YUCCA
9 July 1993Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreGila District OfficeSONOITA

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Santa Cruz County

Storms near this place

18 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Sonoita in 18 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 6 thunderstorm wind, 4 hail, 3 flash flood, 3 funnel cloud. The reports record 1 death. 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
July 2014LightningSonoita1 killedA 17-year old undocumented boy was struck and killed by lightning near Windmill Drive near Sonoita, Arizona.
July 2013Thunderstorm WindSonoita$25,000Thunderstorm winds peeled a metal roof off a residence and damaged several small outbuildings and trailers near Sonoita.
August 2007Thunderstorm WindSonoita$25,000A severe thunderstorm near Sonoita caused several downed power lines and damage to two residences.
August 2003Flash FloodSonoita$24,000no account filed
June 2025LightningSonoita$5,000Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Company reported outages for roughly 1,400 people in Sonoita, Whetstone, Benson, and Wilcox due to multiple thunderstorm hazards including lightning, fallen branches, and heavy rain that arched power lines.
September 2021Funnel CloudSonoita-A short-lived funnel cloud was reported and captured on video near Sonoita.
July 2017Thunderstorm WindSonoita-Thunderstorm outflow winds blew across northern Santa Cruz Count. The Hopkins RAWS measured a 58 mph gust.
March 2014Flash FloodSonoita-Multiple periods of heavy rain which fell during the late afternoon and evening hours causing flash flooding near Apache Springs Ranch. Law enforcement reported fast moving water that was 35 feet across flowing near Forest Service Road 4084. There was also a report of several people stranded on the other side of this flowing water in Gardner Canyon.
July 2013Funnel CloudSonoita-A funnel cloud extended briefly from a thunderstorm southeast of Sonoita.
July 2010Funnel CloudSonoita-A strong thunderstorm produced a well-developed funnel cloud near Sonoita. Video of the funnel cloud was obtained through the broadcast media. There was no direct evidence from the video that the funnel made contact with the ground.
August 1997Flash FloodSonoita-Several road closures due to flooding.
September 1995HailSonoita-Several thunderstorms brought hail, gusty winds, and very heavy rain. Rain amounts were as much as two inches in 45 minutes.
October 2018HailSonoita-no account filed
July 2003Thunderstorm WindSonoita-no account filed
July 2003HailSonoita-no account filed
August 2003HailSonoita-no account filed
July 1996Thunderstorm WindSonoita-no account filed
July 1996Thunderstorm WindSonoita-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
Hacienda Los Encino1.5 miles28
Elgin7.0 miles27
Patagonia11.0 miles22
Canelo12.0 miles26
Madera Canyon12.3 miles23
Alto12.9 miles23
Harshaw14.9 miles22
Trench Camp15.3 miles22

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 SonoitaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1312535The 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 34635. 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.

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.