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Willow Canyon, Arizona

24 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1904 and the latest in 1996. It stands in the Tucson census division. It lies in ZIP code area 85619. It lies near Lizard Rock. The Survey maps it on the Mount Bigelow quadrangle. 2 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 6,972 feet above sea level.

Willow Canyon within Pima County

Population over time

2 figures

Willow Canyon grew from 1 to 2 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
20101
20202+1 (+100%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

11 surveys from 24 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

489 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 489 fires within 5 miles of Willow Canyon between 1992 and 2020, burning about 29,702 acres in total. 202 started naturally. 18 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
Natural202
Recreation and ceremony174
Missing data/not specified/undetermined57
Arson/incendiarism18
Smoking13
Misuse of fire by a minor10
Debris and open burning5
Power generation/transmission/distribution5
Equipment and vehicle use4
Fireworks1

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 1997Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreCoronado National ForestDITCH
9 September 1995Naturalunder an acreCoronado National ForestPECK
9 September 1995Naturalunder an acreCoronado National ForestDAVIS
7 September 2009Naturalunder an acreCoronado National ForestALDER
7 September 1995Natural1.5 acresCoronado National ForestGUTHRIE II
6 September 2012Naturalunder an acreCoronado National ForestALDER
6 September 1996Naturalunder an acreCoronado National ForestSCOUT
6 September 1993Naturalunder an acreCoronado National ForestLABOR

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Pima County

Mines and quarries near this place

4 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Willow Canyon: 2 past producers, 2 occurrences. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Copper, Silver, Mica, Gold, Lead, Silver, Copper. 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
Lucky LouCopper, SilverPast Producer
Mica MineMicaOccurrence
Single Jack Nos 1and 2Gold, Lead, SilverPast Producer
Unnamed Prospect Ml107CopperOccurrenceUnknown

Every working recorded in Pima County

Storms near this place

13 since 2008

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Willow Canyon in 13 storm reports between 2008 and 2024: 8 flash flood, 3 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail, 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
July 2016Thunderstorm WindWillow Canyon$100,000A line of thunderstorms moved southwest pushing strong winds out ahead of it through Redington Pass and into the Tucson Metro. Wind gusts of 60 to 65 mph caused sporadic damage. Ten power poles and several trees were knocked down near Camino Seco and Escalante Rd. Over 19,000 customers were without power for a short time. Additionally, a carport was damaged near Escalante Rd and Prudence Rd, and a tree fell on a home on Rickey Vista in South Tucson.
August 2022Flash FloodWillow Canyon$25,000Heavy rain of 2-3 at the headwaters of Sabino Creek and Bear Canyon caused rapid rises in both streams. Flash flooding occurred at the Sabino Canyon Recreation area causing damage to trails and flooding of all recreation area bridges. Twenty five people became stranded in Bear Canyon and needed to be rescued as trails across the wash were flowing heavily and dangerously impassable. No injuries were reported.
August 2022Flash FloodWillow Canyon$10,000Two periods of heavy rain, each of 1 across much of the watershed, which was part of the Bighorn Fire burn scar, caused Sabino Creek to overtop bridges at the Sabino Canyon Recreation area. Some hiking trails, which were affected by high flows earlier in the month, sustained additional damage.
July 2018Heavy RainWillow Canyon$3,000Heavy rain caused a motorcycle accident on Mt. Lemmon Highway near mile post 4.
July 2024Flash FloodWillow Canyon$1,000Reports of flash flooding northeast side of Tucson included the following:|1) Tanque Verde Loop Road south of Linden Street at the Tanque Verde Creek.|2) Redington Road near Canyon del Salto Wash.
October 2022Thunderstorm WindWillow Canyon-Scout Camp RAWS measured a thunderstorm wind gust of 60 mph.
July 2021Flash FloodWillow Canyon-Heavy rain of 2.5 in less than 1 hour at the headwaters of Tanque Verde Creek caused rapid rises of over three feet in Tanque Verde Creek downstream before the channel widens out.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindWillow Canyon-Scout Camp RAWS measured a thunderstorm wind gust to 64 mph.
August 2017Flash FloodWillow Canyon-Three people were trapped at Tanque Verde Falls and unable to cross the wash to exit the area due to a rapid increase in water levels.
July 2017Flash FloodWillow Canyon-Between 1 and 1.5 inches of rain on the Burro Fire burn scar caused flash flooding near Rose Canyon and Scout Ranch.
August 2015Flash FloodWillow Canyon-Persistent showers and thunderstorms caused to up to 2 inches of rain in the Redington Pass area, including the Tanque Verde and Agua Caliente Washes. Redington Pass Road became flooded and impassible.
July 2013HailWillow Canyon-One inch diameter hail was reported at Rose Canyon Campground.
July 2008Flash FloodWillow Canyon-Several swift water rescues occurred in the Tucson metro area including along Wentworth Road in Corona De Tucson and in Northeast Tucson.

Every storm recorded in Pima 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
Whitetail2.3 miles24
Soldier Camp3.5 miles24
Summerhaven4.7 miles23
Loma Linda5.1 miles23
Tanque Verde9.7 miles24
Skyline Bel Aire Estates11.2 miles26
Redington11.2 miles18
Indian Ridge Estates12.0 miles27

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 Willow CanyonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q28391The 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 36223. 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.