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Fallen Leaf, California

35 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1889 and the latest in 1992. It stands in the South Lake Tahoe census division. It lies in ZIP code area 96150. It stands on Glen Alpine Creek. The Survey maps it on the Emerald Bay quadrangle. It stands 6,427 feet above sea level.

Fallen Leaf within El Dorado County

Then and now

1889 to 1992

The same ground, surveyed 103 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Fallen Leaf, surveyed 1992
Topographic sheet of Fallen Leaf, surveyed 1889

Compare 1889 against another survey:

Topographic sheets covering this place

12 surveys from 35 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

492 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 492 fires within 5 miles of Fallen Leaf between 1992 and 2020, burning about 3,506 acres in total. 65 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
Recreation and ceremony143
Missing data/not specified/undetermined99
Natural65
Smoking64
Arson/incendiarism36
Debris and open burning31
Misuse of fire by a minor22
Power generation/transmission/distribution18
Equipment and vehicle use10
Fireworks4

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 2009Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreLake Tahoe Basin Management UnitTRUCKEE
9 September 1994Missing data/not specified/undetermined34 acresLake Tahoe Basin Management Unitnot named
8 September 2003Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreLake Tahoe Basin Management UnitPANARAMA
7 September 2011Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreLake Tahoe Basin Management UnitVALHALLA
7 September 2005Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreLake Tahoe Basin Management UnitEIGHT
7 September 1994Smokingunder an acreLake Tahoe Basin Management Unitnot named
5 September 2017Naturalunder an acreLake Tahoe Basin Management UnitGRANITE
5 September 2007Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreLake Tahoe Basin Management UnitSUZY

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in El Dorado County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 11 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 11 workings within 5 miles of Fallen Leaf: 6 occurrences, 5 unknowns. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Gold, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Stone, Limestone, Dimension. 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
California Rock and GravelLimestone, DimensionUnknown
Gravel PitScandiumUnknown
Anderson PitStoneOccurrence
Butler PitStoneOccurrence
Anderson PitStone, Crushed/BrokenUnknown
Butler PitStone, Crushed/BrokenUnknown
Quarry 1Stone, Crushed/BrokenUnknown
Gilmore Lake ProspectGoldOccurrence
Golden RuleGoldOccurrence
Josie GroupGoldOccurrence

Every working recorded in El Dorado County

Storms near this place

7 since 2012

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Fallen Leaf in 7 storm reports between 2012 and 2025: 4 heavy rain, 1 debris flow, 1 tornado, 1 thunderstorm wind. The reports record 8 deaths. 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
June 2025Thunderstorm WindFallen Leaf8 killedBuoy data on Lake Tahoe indicated a northerly wind gust of 45 mph from nearby showers and collapsing thunderstorms. This caused significant waves on Lake Tahoe, with multiple boats damaged and one boat capsized near Emerald Bay, causing 8 fatalities out of the 10 on board. The two that survived were wearing life jackets, while the other 8 did not.
October 2021Heavy RainFallen Leaf-CoCoRahs Observers, trained spotter, and Mesonet/ASOS sites reported rainfall amounts 1.0-2.0 around Echo Lake, 2.0-4.0 from Echo Summit to Meyers, CA; and 6.0-8.0 reported from Meyers, CA to South Lake Tahoe, CA.||A trained spotter located 2.0mi NW of Meyers, CA (COCORAHS STATION CA-ED-20) reported 24 hour total for rain-snow melt of 8.40 inches. The trained spotter also reported 4 inches of snow fell with SWE of 1.14 inches.
April 2018Heavy RainFallen Leaf-Mesonet station FLFC1, 2 miles southeast of Emerald Bay (elevation 6241 feet) reported 1.90 inches of rainfall in a 24 hour period from 6 April 0800PST to 7 April 0800PST.
July 2018Heavy RainFallen Leaf-Mesonet station FLFC1, 2 miles southeast of Emerald Bay (elevation 6241 feet) reported 0.50 inches of rainfall in a 24-hour period from 13 July 2000PST to 14 July 2000PST.
January 2017Heavy RainFallen Leaf-There was 1 of new snow at elevation 4050', 9 NNW Twin Bridges.
July 2015Tornado (EF0)Fallen Leaf-Two photographs indicated a waterspout on Lake Tahoe. Eyewitnesses noted that the waterspout started near the mouth of Emerald Bay and moved quickly southeast towards Tahoe Keys. The waterspout dissipated before reaching land.
December 2012Debris FlowFallen Leaf-The California Highway Patrol reported boulders on highway 89 near Emerald Bay State Park. An estimated 2 to 3 inches of precipitation was reported (SNOTEL/RAWS observations), mostly within the previous 12 hours.

Every storm recorded in El Dorado 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
Spring Creek3.2 miles35
Meyers3.7 miles35
Echo Lake3.8 miles35
Tallac Village3.8 miles35
Camp Richardson3.9 miles35
Kiva Beach4.1 miles35
Tahoe Valley4.2 miles35
Little Norway4.5 miles35

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 Fallen LeafAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q5432251The 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 1656008. 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.