BlockBefore

Guatay, California

34 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1903 and the latest in 1997. It stands in the Laguna-Pine Valley census division. It lies in ZIP code area 91931. It lies near Farley Flat. The Survey maps it on the Descanso quadrangle. It stands 3,999 feet above sea level.

Guatay within San Diego County

Then and now

1903 to 1997

The 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.

Topographic sheet of Guatay, surveyed 1997
Topographic sheet of Guatay, surveyed 1903

Compare 1903 against another survey:

Topographic sheets covering this place

13 surveys from 34 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

312 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 312 fires within 5 miles of Guatay between 1992 and 2020, burning about 3,378 acres in total. 24 started naturally. 12 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
Equipment and vehicle use112
Missing data/not specified/undetermined64
Recreation and ceremony57
Natural24
Arson/incendiarism12
Misuse of fire by a minor12
Power generation/transmission/distribution9
Debris and open burning8
Smoking7
Other causes6
Firearms and explosives use1

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 1994Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCleveland National ForestEIGHT
8 September 2015Naturalunder an acreCleveland National ForestGUATAY
8 September 2005Equipment and vehicle use75 acresSan Diego UnitOAKZANITA
7 September 2000Naturalunder an acreSan Diego UnitAIRPLANE
7 September 2000Naturalunder an acreSan Diego UnitGREEN
7 September 1998Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreCleveland National ForestPARTY_#3
7 September 1997Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreCleveland National ForestPICK-UP
6 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreCleveland National ForestGRINDER

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in San Diego County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 40 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 40 workings within 5 miles of Guatay: 12 occurrences, 9 producers, 9 past producers, 9 prospects. 9 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Gold, Silver, Silver, Silica. 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
Deer Park DepositLimestone, DimensionPast Producer
Gold Standard GroupGold, TungstenPast Producer
Laguna Junction DepositsFeldspar, SilicaProspect
Vault of Ages ProspectGold, Silver, TungstenProspect
Descanso MineGold, SilverProducer
Descanso MineGold, SilverPast Producer
Laguna Mtns PlacersTinPast Producer
Rose Quartz MineGold, SilverProducer
Rose Quartz MineGold, SilverPast Producer
Unnamed - 1SilicaOccurrence

Every working recorded in San Diego County

Storms near this place

7 since 2011

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Guatay in 7 storm reports between 2011 and 2025: 3 heavy rain, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood, 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
August 2024HailGuatay$10,000Trained spotter and meteorologist reported half inch sized hail from thunderstorm along I-8 in Pine Valley near 3500 feet MSL.
September 2013Thunderstorm WindGuatay$8,000The Guatay mesonet station reported peak wind gusts of 38 and 44 mph between 1230 and 1250 PST due to a nearby thunderstorm. County representatives reported several trees down blocking roadways in nearby Pine Valley. San Diego Gas and Electric also reported a few power poles down, leading to outages.
August 2025Heavy RainGuatay-Mesonet station FW0527 Guatay Spider Mountain recorded 1.11 of rain with 0.93 falling in one hour.
February 2022Heavy RainGuatay-Heavy rain occurred across the region with 1 to 2.5 inches of rain in total for the storm event. Pine Valley recorded 2.57 inches of rain.
September 2016FloodGuatay-A spotter reported minor urban flooding from a nearly stationary thunderstorm in Pine Valley.
July 2015Flash FloodGuatay-A spotter reported 4 to 6 inches of water flowing across Old Highway 80 in Guatay.
July 2011Heavy RainGuatay-San Diego County Flood Control reported 0.80 inches of rain over 15 minutes and an additional 0.10 inches over the next 5 minutes, resulting in 0.90 inches of rain over 20 minutes.

Every storm recorded in San Diego 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
Pine Valley2.4 miles34
Descanso Junction3.0 miles34
Descanso3.1 miles34
Los Terrenitos3.6 miles34
Hulburd Grove3.6 miles34
Stallion Oaks4.5 miles33
Mount Laguna7.5 miles21
The Willows8.8 miles33

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 GuatayAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q5614211The 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 1656536. 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.