Banner, California
34 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1903 and the latest in 1997. It stands in the Borrego Springs census division. It lies in ZIP code area 92036. It lies in Banner Canyon. The Survey maps it on the Julian quadrangle. It stands 2,743 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1903 to 1997The same ground, surveyed 94 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Compare 1903 against another survey:
Topographic sheets covering this place
14 surveys from 34 printed sheetsMatched 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.
- 1903 USGS Ramona quadrangle1:125000, 6 printings
- 1904 USGS Southern California Sheet No. 2 quadrangle1:250000, 5 printings
- 1939 USGS Santa Ysabel quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1943 USGS Santa Ysabel quadrangle1:62500
- 1947 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000
- 1949 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1960 USGS Julian quadrangle1:24000, 5 printings
- 1960 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1960 USGS Santa Ysabel quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1965 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000
- 1982 USGS Borrego Valley quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1997 USGS Julian quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
199 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 199 fires within 5 miles of Banner between 1992 and 2020, burning about 84,397 acres in total. 29 started naturally. 15 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/undetermined | 71 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 46 |
| Natural | 29 |
| Debris and open burning | 16 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 15 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 11 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 6 |
| Firearms and explosives use | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2 |
| Smoking | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 1996 | Natural | under an acre | San Diego Unit | FELIPE # 3 |
| 8 September 1996 | Natural | 1.0 acres | San Diego Unit | FELIPE # 1 |
| 8 September 1996 | Natural | 4.0 acres | San Diego Unit | FELIPE # 2 |
| 7 September 2000 | Natural | under an acre | California Desert District | GRANITE |
| 7 September 2000 | Natural | under an acre | San Diego Unit | FELIPE |
| 7 September 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | San Diego Unit | HIESE |
| 5 September 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Desert District | OFILA |
| 4 September 2004 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | California Desert District | HEMBORG |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 128 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 128 workings within 5 miles of Banner: 37 occurrences, 37 producers, 31 past producers, 22 prospects. 37 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Nickel, Tungsten, Silver. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cuyamaca | Silica | Occurrence | ||
| Friday Copper Co Claim | Cobalt, Copper, Nickel | Prospect | ||
| Friday Deposit | Nickel, Iron, Cobalt, Copper | Prospect | ||
| Friday Mine | Copper, Nickel, Cobalt, Palladium, Platinum, Iridium | Occurrence | 1885 | |
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Owens | Gold, Copper, Silver | Past Producer | Vein | |
| Owens Mine | Gold, Silver, Copper | Past Producer | ||
| Owens Old Owensmine | Gold, Copper, Silver | Producer | ||
| Pacific Clay Products Mine | Clay | Past Producer | ||
| Royal Mine | Lithium | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
16 since 1999Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Banner in 16 storm reports between 1999 and 2024: 5 flash flood, 4 heavy rain, 3 debris flow, 2 flood. The reports record 2 injuries. 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 1999 | Wildfire | Banner | 2 hurt, $150,000 | A wild fire, fanned by erratic winds, consumed 700 acres, destroyed one historic wooden structure, forced the evacuation of 21 residents, and injured 2 firefighters. |
| August 2024 | Debris Flow | Banner | $20,000 | NWS storm survey found several low water crossings on S2 highway with mud and debris including along the shoulders with erosion. Required the San Diego County crews to moved and plow mud and debris on the highway. Survey was Monday August 12. |
| August 2024 | Flash Flood | Banner | $10,000 | San Diego department of Public Works reported mud flows and flash flooding on the Great Southern Overland Stage route S2 and Vallecito Wash crossings. 2.54 inches of rain was recorded. Public Works also provided photos of the flooding and NWS did a storm survey the next day. |
| April 2019 | Lightning | Banner | $100 | Lightning over San Diego County and the waters totaled 69 cloud to ground lightning strikes on April 29th. |
| August 2024 | Heavy Rain | Banner | - | Rainfall of 2.54 inches in about 2 hours was recorded at the Mason Valley mesonet along S2 highway in the San Diego Deserts. Radar estimates as high as 3.50 inches. |
| February 2022 | Heavy Rain | Banner | - | Heavy rain occurred across the region with up to 1 inch of rain in total for the storm event. Mason Valley recorded 1.08 inches of rain. |
| August 2021 | Heavy Rain | Banner | - | CNRFC's San Felipe station reports a total of 2.49 inches of rain. |
| September 2019 | Debris Flow | Banner | - | CHP reported several basketball-sized boulders blocking lanes on highway 78 near Banner. |
| July 2013 | Debris Flow | Banner | - | A Cleveland National Forest Battalion Chief reported 6 inches of mud and rocks flowing across Sunrise Highway (S1), just north of Shrine Camp. The Shrine Camp area was recently burned during the Chariot Fire. The nearby Volcan Mountain Alert gauge reported 0.78 inches of rain in 10 minutes and 1.14 inches of rain over 20 minutes. |
| July 2013 | Flash Flood | Banner | - | Highway 78 was flooded in two locations through Yaqui Pass with many large rocks in the roadway. Thirty vehicles were trapped between the two flooded locations, due to the road being impassable there. A weather service employee observed one of the flows was about 12 inches deep and another was about 6 inches deep. |
| September 2013 | Flash Flood | Banner | - | Water was flowing over Highway 78 near Banner with waves of water up to 8 inches deep. Mud and debris required removal by Caltrans. |
| February 2012 | Heavy Rain | Banner | - | Heavy rain caused mud to cover Highway 78, 2 miles east of Scissors Crossing. |
| September 2012 | Flood | Banner | - | Four inches of water flowing over highway S2 near highway 78 in an area known as Scissors Crossing. Road remains passable. |
| July 2012 | Flash Flood | Banner | - | Law enforcement reported flash flooding with rocks and mud over Highway S2 in Shelter Valley. |
| July 2011 | Flood | Banner | - | Local flooding at mile marker 15 of county road S-2, north of Scissors Crossing. Heavy rain from a thunderstorm moving north along S-2 caused low parts of the road to be covered with a few inches of running water. |
| August 2000 | Flash Flood | Banner | - | no account filed |
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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kentwood-In-The-Pines | 1.6 miles | 34 | |
| Whispering Pines | 2.4 miles | 34 | |
| Julian | 3.0 miles | 34 | |
| Harrison Park | 3.2 miles | 34 | |
| Branson (historical) | 3.8 miles | 34 | |
| Scissors Crossing | 4.2 miles | 24 | |
| Pine Hills | 4.7 miles | 34 | |
| Wynola | 5.6 miles | 34 |
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 Banner | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q4856900 | The 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 269662. 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.













