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Alta Sierra, California

25 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1920 and the latest in 1978. It stands in the Lake Isabella census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93285. It stands on Ice House Creek. The Survey maps it on the Alta Sierra quadrangle. 103 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 5,718 feet above sea level.

Alta Sierra within Kern County

Then and now

1920 to 1978

The same ground, surveyed 58 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Alta Sierra, surveyed 1978
Topographic sheet of Alta Sierra, surveyed 1920

Topographic sheets covering this place

13 surveys from 25 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

100 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 100 fires within 5 miles of Alta Sierra between 1992 and 2020, burning about 37,266 acres in total. 20 started naturally. 2 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/undetermined42
Natural20
Equipment and vehicle use16
Recreation and ceremony7
Debris and open burning5
Misuse of fire by a minor4
Smoking2
Arson/incendiarism2
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
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
7 September 1996Misuse of fire by a minor8.0 acresSequoia National ForestTERRACE
7 September 1993Smokingunder an acreSequoia National ForestMELON
4 September 1999Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSequoia National ForestMEADOW
30 September 2008Naturalunder an acreSequoia National ForestBULL
3 September 2003Natural2.0 acresSequoia National ForestBLACK
3 September 1998Naturalunder an acreSequoia National ForestBOHNA
29 September 2009Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreSequoia National ForestSHIRLEY
29 September 1999Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreCentral California DistrictBODFISH

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Kern County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 58 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 58 workings within 5 miles of Alta Sierra: 33 past producers, 10 occurrences, 8 prospects, 4 producers. 4 still produce. What was taken out: Tungsten, Gold, Antimony, Uranium. 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
Big Sugar MineTungsten, QuartzPast Producer
Good Enough ProspectTungsten, MolybdenumPast ProducerScheelite
Greenhorn DistrictTungsten, BismuthOccurrenceSKARN
Lucky Hit DepositTungsten, CopperProducerPyrite, Scheelite
Major MineTungsten, Copper, MolybdenumPast ProducerChalcopyrite, Molybdenite, Pyrite, Pyrrhotite, Scheelite
Shirley Creek QuartzGold, SilverProspect
Susie Q ProspectTungsten, AntimonyOccurrenceScheelite, Stibnite
Wattenbarger ProspectUraniumProspect
Big Oscar Antimony DepositAntimonyProspect
Susie Q ProspectTungsten, AntimonyProspect

Every working recorded in Kern County

Storms near this place

5 since 2013

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Alta Sierra in 5 storm reports between 2013 and 2019: 2 heavy rain, 2 debris flow, 1 flood. 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
March 2019Debris FlowAlta Sierra-California Highway Patrol reported a rock slide on State Route 155 between Aldercreek Campground and Greenhorn Summit.
March 2018FloodAlta Sierra-California Highway Patrol reported two boulders in the roadway of State Route 155 near Alta Sierra Rd. with heavy rainfall in the area.
February 2017Debris FlowAlta Sierra-California Highway Patrol 5 by 5 foot boulder in road due to heavy rain near State Route 155 and Alta Sierra Drive near Alta Sierra.
December 2014Heavy RainAlta Sierra-Mesonet station Wofford Heights /WFHC1/ rainfall 1.98 inches.
August 2013Heavy RainAlta Sierra-Broadcast media reported some small hail and heavy rain. The rainfall total was 2 inches.

Every storm recorded in Kern 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
Shirley Meadows1.3 miles25
Wofford Heights5.2 miles28
Kernville (historical)6.1 miles28
Kernville6.8 miles25
Camp Owens6.9 miles25
Riverkern6.9 miles25
Isabella (historical)6.9 miles28
Pettit Place7.1 miles25

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 Alta SierraAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q4736000The 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 269505. 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.