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Sun Lakes, Arizona

19 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1914 and the latest in 1994. It stands in the Chandler census division. It lies in ZIP code area 85248. The Survey maps it on the Gila Butte NW quadrangle. 14,868 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,194 feet above sea level.

Sun Lakes within Maricopa County

Population over time

2 figures

Sun Lakes grew from 13,975 to 14,868 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
201013,975
202014,868+893 (+6%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

11 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

452 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 452 fires within 5 miles of Sun Lakes between 1992 and 2020, burning about 4,085 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 31 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/undetermined306
Debris and open burning59
Arson/incendiarism31
Equipment and vehicle use25
Smoking15
Misuse of fire by a minor10
Natural2
Recreation and ceremony2
Fireworks1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

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 2011Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreArizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management - State OfficeAZ-111932
8 September 1993Debris and open burning50 acresPima AgencyHAMMER
8 September 1992Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acrePima AgencyBAHE
7 September 2011Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreArizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management - State OfficeAZ-110539
7 September 1994Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acrePima AgencyRIGGS
7 September 1992Missing data/not specified/undetermined5.0 acresPima AgencyST.PETER#2
6 September 2011Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreArizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management - State OfficeAZ-110538
5 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreChandler Fire Department329217

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Maricopa 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 Sun Lakes: 7 past producers, 1 unknown. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Sand and Gravel QuarrySand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSand and Gravel
Sand and Gravel QuarrySand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSand and Gravel

Every working recorded in Maricopa County

Storms near this place

8 since 1999

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Sun Lakes in 8 storm reports between 1999 and 2023: 5 thunderstorm wind, 1 lightning, 1 heavy rain, 1 hail. The reports record 1 injury. 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 1999LightningSun Lakes1 hurtA worker was struck by lightning while installing an air conditioner in a new home in Sun Lakes.
August 2008Thunderstorm WindSun Lakes$1,000,000Microburst winds hit Chandler airport and flipped at least two planes. Winds also damaged a fence and other property. Northeast winds peaked at 67 mph at 3:25 pm.
August 2004Thunderstorm WindSun Lakes$200,000Severe thunderstorms developed along the Maricopa and northwest Pinal County line, in vicinity of Sun Lakes. Damaging high winds, multiple microbursts, were primarily in the southern side of Sun Lakes, and the adjacent desert to the south of the community in Pinal County (6 N Bapchule). 80 manufactured mobile homes sustained heavy damage, roofs, carports, sheds, and awnings, and 25 medium to large trees were uprooted.
September 2011Thunderstorm WindSun Lakes$15,000Scattered thunderstorms with strong damaging wind moved across the eastern greater Phoenix area during the evening hours on September 10th. At 830 pm a trained weather spotter in Chandler reported that several tree branches as large as 9 inches in diameter were broken off by strong wind. At approximately 8 pm, local media reported a number of trees down in northeast Gilbert, between Elliot and Baseline roads on Val Vista.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindSun Lakes$1,500Photos on social media showed a large uprooted tree along Alma School Road between Ray Road and Chandler Boulevard, causing damage to a block wall along with knocking down a light pole. No injuries were reported.
September 2023HailSun Lakes-Public report of hailstones of 3/4 inch in diameter near Germann Rd and Dobson Rd.
July 2010Heavy RainSun Lakes-Heavy rain produced standing water across Interstate 10.
August 2008Thunderstorm WindSun Lakes-Several trees down and a hangar door damaged at the airport.

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
Ocotillo2.4 miles20
Serape2.5 miles20
Hamilton Corner3.1 miles20
Pozo4.9 miles20
Rancho de Chandler6.1 miles20
The Haciendas6.3 miles20
Hightown6.7 miles21
Chandler6.8 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 Sun LakesAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q613472The 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 25113. 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.