BlockBefore

Cathedral City, California

33 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1904 and the latest in 1984. It stands in the Cathedral City-Palm Desert census division. It lies in ZIP code area 92234. It stands on Palm Canyon Wash. The Survey maps it on the Cathedral City quadrangle. 51,493 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 328 feet above sea level.

Cathedral City within Riverside County

Then and now

1904 to 1984

The same ground, surveyed 80 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Cathedral City, surveyed 1984
Topographic sheet of Cathedral City, surveyed 1904

Compare 1904 against another survey:

Population over time

2 figures

Cathedral City grew from 51,200 to 51,493 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
201051,200
202051,493+293 (+1%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

13 surveys from 33 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

350 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 350 fires within 5 miles of Cathedral City between 1992 and 2020, burning about 3,946 acres in total. 10 started naturally. 33 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/undetermined194
Equipment and vehicle use39
Arson/incendiarism33
Smoking23
Misuse of fire by a minor23
Recreation and ceremony13
Debris and open burning11
Natural10
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Railroad operations and maintenance2

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 2005Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
8 September 2011Equipment and vehicle use18 acresSan Bernardino National ForestPALM
8 September 2009Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
7 September 2017Naturalunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire ProtectionMONTEREY AV / SAGEWOOD DR
7 September 2011Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreSan Bernardino National ForestPALM 2
4 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undetermined1,926 acresRiverside UnitAVENIDA LAS PALMAS RANM
4 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreRiverside UnitLEHIGH CT RANM
30 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined4.0 acresRiverside UnitMISSION HILLS CC RANM

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Riverside 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 Cathedral City: 4 past producers, 3 occurrences, 1 prospect. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Tungsten, Limestone, General. 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
Cameron Marble Co.Limestone, GeneralOccurrence
CottonwoodTungstenOccurrenceScheelite
Magnesium Canyon Tungsten MineTungstenOccurrenceScheelite
Magnesium Canyon Tungsten MineTungstenProspect
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Southwest PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Riverside County

Storms near this place

14 since 2003

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Cathedral City in 14 storm reports between 2003 and 2023: 7 flash flood, 3 flood, 3 lightning, 1 heavy rain. 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
July 2008Flash FloodCathedral City1 hurt, $500,000Heavy rain from an early morning thunderstorm over the mountain slopes above Cathedral City caused a damaging flash flood that raced down Eagle Canyon, past Gildas Club, and onto East Palm Canyon Drive (Highway 111). At least 15-20 businesses were damaged as well as several homes at the Tramview Mobile Home Park. One home was lifted off its foundation and declared unsafe to live in. Debris consisting of rocks, a fence, mud, and tree limbs caused the closure of East Palm Canyon from Cathedral Canyon to Golf Club Drive. Several other intersection along and near East Palm Canyon were also closed. A trained weather spotter measured 1.25 inches of rain in 30 minutes with this storm.
August 2003Flash FloodCathedral City$500,000no account filed
August 2012Flash FloodCathedral City$150,000Major flash flooding in Cathedral City with 1 to 2 feet of rapidly moving water, closing several roads including East Palm Canyon (Highway 111) and Araby Drive. Water forced mud and debris into several businesses in town, causing significant damage.
September 2013Flash FloodCathedral City$100,000The USGS stream gauge on Palm Canyon Creek reported a 3.19 ft. rise. The gauge peaked at 1400 PST. Downstream from the gauge, broadcast media reported Araby Drive in Palm Springs was shut down due to a wall of water that passed through the area. CHP reported Golf Club Drive was closed at the wash due to flooding. Media also reported a flash flood and debris flow 2 feet deep and 20 feet wide flowing across Golf Club Drive. Cathedral Canyon Drive was closed at Whitewater Wash due to flooding and debris flows. The public also reported a flash flood and debris flow down Tahquitz Creek through the Tahquitz Creek Golf Resort.
January 2003FloodCathedral City$40,000no account filed
August 2005LightningCathedral City$5,000Lightning strikes sparked numerous Palm Tree fires.
August 2012LightningCathedral City$1,000Spotter RIV230 reported heavy rain and lightning. Lightning struck a nearby palm tree, which then burst into flames. Winds also gusted to 25 mph.
August 2023FloodCathedral City-Fourteen residents at an assisted living facility were rescued by bucket loaders when mud and water over a foot deep surrounded their homes on Date Palm Drive in Cathedral City.
July 2021Heavy RainCathedral City-Cathedral Canyon raws had 0.42 rainfall in 1 hour and 0.69 inches total.
June 2021LightningCathedral City-Emergency manager relayed a report of a tree struck by lightning in Cathedral City as reported by KESQ media. Radar detected rain cells and lightning was also detected in the Coachella Valley. The Cathedral City fire department received reports at the 36000 block of Bankside Drive. The palm tree was immediately next to at least 2 home residences.
February 2014FloodCathedral City-KESQ media Palm Springs reports and had photos of several road closures due to flooding in washes including: Araby Drive, Golf Club Drive, Indian Canyon, Vista Chino and Gene Autry. These road closures were caused by flooding due to heavy rainfall in the adjacent mountains.
August 2014Flash FloodCathedral City-Dinah Shore Drive between Date Palm Drive and Cathedral Canyon Drive was flooded...with at least one car abandoned.
July 2013Flash FloodCathedral City-The stream gauge at Palm Canyon Creek reported a water rise of 1.5 feet in a normally dry creek bed around 315 PST. This gauge later measured a peak flow of 211 cfs at 1430 PST.
September 2013Flash FloodCathedral City-CHP reported Golf Club Drive closed at the wash due to flooding.

Every storm recorded in Riverside 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
Suntown0.1 miles33
Caliente Sands1.1 miles33
Royal Palms1.1 miles33
Rancho Mirage3.9 miles31
Rimlon4.2 miles26
Edom4.4 miles33
Thousand Palms4.9 miles33
Palm Springs5.5 miles43

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 Cathedral CityAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q578518The 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 1656454. 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.