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Avenal, California

25 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1912 and the latest in 1987. It stands in the Avenal census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93204. It stands on Arroyo del Camino. The Survey maps it on the Avenal quadrangle. 13,696 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 807 feet above sea level.

Avenal within Kings County

Then and now

1912 to 1987

The same ground, surveyed 75 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Avenal, surveyed 1987
Topographic sheet of Avenal, surveyed 1912

Population over time

2 figures

Avenal fell from 15,505 to 13,696 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
201015,505
202013,696-1,809 (-12%)

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

53 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 53 fires within 5 miles of Avenal between 1992 and 2020, burning about 24,241 acres in total. None 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/undetermined23
Equipment and vehicle use15
Arson/incendiarism4
Power generation/transmission/distribution4
Smoking3
Debris and open burning3
Misuse of fire by a minor1

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 2000Smokingunder an acreFresno-Kings UnitKCF-250A
6 September 2007Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreCentral California DistrictUNNAMED FIRE 1358
4 September 1995Equipment and vehicle use3.0 acresFresno-Kings UnitCHEVRON #8
22 September 1997Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresFresno-Kings UnitCANYON
22 September 1997Arson/incendiarism3.0 acresFresno-Kings UnitTAR
15 September 1998Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.0 acresFresno-Kings UnitFKU 39074
14 September 1994Equipment and vehicle use5.0 acresFresno-Kings UnitAVENAL IC.
5 August 2019Power generation/transmission/distribution139 acresCentral California DistrictSKY

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Kings County

Mines and quarries near this place

5 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Avenal: 3 occurrences, 2 prospects. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Chromium, Fullers Earth, Gypsum-Anhydrite. 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
Reported OccurrenceChromiumOccurrenceChromite
Reported OccurrenceChromiumOccurrence
Tulare Lake View GroupGypsum-Anhydrite, Fullers EarthProspect
Tulare Lake View GroupGypsum-AnhydriteOccurrenceSedimentary
Webb and Mingus PropertyFullers EarthProspect

Every working recorded in Kings County

Storms near this place

14 since 2000

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Avenal in 14 storm reports between 2000 and 2023: 3 flash flood, 3 heavy rain, 3 flood, 2 hail. 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
May 2002LightningAvenal$5,000no account filed
August 2007LightningAvenal$1,000no account filed
January 2023FloodAvenal-California Highway Patrol reported a large rockslide blocking the roadway on SR 41 southwest of the intersection with SR 33.
January 2021FloodAvenal-California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding due to heavy rain at the intersection of SR 41 and SR 33 near Kettleman City.
October 2018Flash FloodAvenal-California Highway Patrol reported flash flooding on State Route 41. Mud and debris were covering the westbound lanes on State Route 41.
October 2018Debris FlowAvenal-California Highway Patrol reported flooding and mudslides across State Route 41 near the border of Kings and Kern Counties.
January 2017FloodAvenal-California Highway Patrol reported a road closure due to roadway flooding on State Route 33.
June 2015Flash FloodAvenal-Both Coalinga fire department and a NWS employee reported street flooding between 1830 and 1850 PDT. Storms continued to redevelop over the area so flood threat continued.
May 2006Heavy RainAvenal-no account filed
February 2005Heavy RainAvenal-no account filed
September 2005HailAvenal-no account filed
March 2003Heavy RainAvenal-no account filed
March 2001Flash FloodAvenal-no account filed
October 2000HailAvenal-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Kings 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
Hydril1.7 miles23
Millham City (historical)7.3 miles23
Reef Station8.1 miles25
Kettleman Station8.8 miles25
Kettleman City8.9 miles23
Murray9.1 miles23
Acebedo12.5 miles21
Stratford20.6 miles21

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 AvenalAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q790415The 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 1660285. 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.