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Chowchilla, California

15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1918 and the latest in 1983. It stands in the Chowchilla census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93610. The Survey maps it on the Chowchilla quadrangle. 19,039 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 240 feet above sea level.

Chowchilla within Madera County

Then and now

1918 to 1983

The same ground, surveyed 65 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Chowchilla, surveyed 1983
Topographic sheet of Chowchilla, surveyed 1918

Population over time

2 figures

Chowchilla grew from 18,720 to 19,039 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
201018,720
202019,039+319 (+2%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 surveys from 15 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

822 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 822 fires within 5 miles of Chowchilla between 1992 and 2020, burning about 3,190 acres in total. None started naturally. 36 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/undetermined540
Equipment and vehicle use132
Debris and open burning62
Arson/incendiarism36
Smoking36
Misuse of fire by a minor13
Railroad operations and maintenance3

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 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire ProtectionMAPLE ST CCWF
9 September 2000Railroad operations and maintenanceunder an acreMerced-Mariposa UnitROADSIDE 13775
9 September 1998Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresMerced-Mariposa UnitROADSIDE 13095
9 September 1998Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresMerced-Mariposa UnitROADSIDE 13092
8 September 1996Debris and open burning2.0 acresMerced-Mariposa UnitMERRIAM
8 September 1993Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMerced-Mariposa UnitRDSD 137
7 September 2014Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMerced-Mariposa Unit152
7 September 2010Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMerced-Mariposa Unit26

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Madera County

Mines and quarries near this place

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Chowchilla: 2 producers, 1 past producer. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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
Ash Slough PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Berenda Slough Sand PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Bliss RanchSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Madera County

Storms near this place

15 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Chowchilla in 15 storm reports between 1996 and 2015: 6 funnel cloud, 4 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind, 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 1998Tornado (F0)Chowchilla$15,000Initial part of this severe storm was 2 miles in length with trees damaged in the Maddalena Orchard south of Highway 152 and east of Road 10. No other damage seen immediately to the northeast except phone line damage immediately along Highway 152 through the rural area. A spotter observed the tornado path. While not seen directly by any witnesses there was some damage to an orchard at Ave 251/2 and Road 14 located just south and west 2 miles from Chowchilla and some building damage 2 miles due west of Chowchilla that would be the same line and direction as the observed tornado...but 4 miles farther to the northeast!
March 1998Thunderstorm WindChowchilla$1,500Strong wind from a severe thunderstorm pushed a trailer house off of its foundation as well as damaging some dairy, calf sheds in an area 1/2 mile north of the storm's tornado track.
April 2015HailChowchilla-Spotter reported one inch hail near Chowchilla, CA.
May 2012Funnel CloudChowchilla-The public reported a funnel cloud near Chowchilla.
February 2009Funnel CloudChowchilla-The public reported a funnel cloud near the city of Chowchilla. The report was relayed by local broadcast media.
May 2002Thunderstorm WindChowchilla-Several hundred trees were downed in an orchard east of Chowchilla due to strong wind accompanying approximately 1" of rain with the event.
April 2001HailChowchilla-Small hail southwest of Chowchilla caused more than $3.25M in damage to 600 acres of apples and 40 acres of cherries.
June 1998FloodChowchilla-By 1835PST 0.75" of rain had fallen from a thunderstorm in the previous 50 minutes in Chowchilla ...streets were flooded with standing water. Total rain in the period ending by 2000 PST was 1.46".
January 2006Funnel CloudChowchilla-no account filed
May 2006Heavy RainChowchilla-no account filed
May 2002Funnel CloudChowchilla-no account filed
October 2000HailChowchilla-no account filed
May 1998Funnel CloudChowchilla-no account filed
April 1996HailChowchilla-no account filed
October 1996Funnel CloudChowchilla-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Madera 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
Minturn1.4 miles16
Sierra Vista2.4 miles16
Califa (historical)3.8 miles19
Ash (historical)4.4 miles15
Fairmead4.8 miles19
Tyler (historical)5.4 miles15
Ovejo (historical)5.6 miles15
Medano (historical)5.7 miles16

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 ChowchillaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q985260The 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 277601. 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.