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Indian Wells, California

29 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 92210. It lies near Point Happy. The Survey maps it on the La Quinta quadrangle. 4,757 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 89 feet above sea level.

Indian Wells 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 Indian Wells, surveyed 1984
Topographic sheet of Indian Wells, surveyed 1904

Population over time

2 figures

Indian Wells fell from 4,958 to 4,757 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
20104,958
20204,757-201 (-4%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

12 surveys from 29 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

1,126 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1,126 fires within 5 miles of Indian Wells between 1992 and 2020, burning about 973 acres in total. 20 started naturally. 113 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/undetermined599
Equipment and vehicle use159
Arson/incendiarism113
Misuse of fire by a minor99
Smoking69
Debris and open burning30
Recreation and ceremony28
Natural20
Power generation/transmission/distribution8
Railroad operations and maintenance1

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
8 September 2020Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresRiverside UnitAVENIDA MONTEZUMA LAQ
8 September 1994Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreRiverside UnitLOCAL
7 September 2005Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreRiverside UnitLOCAL-TREE FIRE
7 September 2004Equipment and vehicle use2.0 acresCoachella Valley National Wildlife RefugeRANCH
7 September 2001Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCoachella Valley National Wildlife RefugeLOCAL
7 September 2000Naturalunder an acreCalifornia Desert DistrictLOCAL FIRE
6 September 1994Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreRiverside UnitLOCAL
6 September 1993Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreRiverside UnitLOCAL

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Riverside County

Storms near this place

3 since 2015

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Indian Wells in 3 storm reports between 2015 and 2021: 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
July 2015Thunderstorm WindIndian Wells$45,000Photos shared by a local media outlet indicate a downburst/microburst was likely the cause of extensive wind damage in the northeast side of Indian Wells in the Palm Desert Country Club area. Based on damage, winds were estimated at 60 to 70 mph. Multiple large trees and power lines down, along with roofing material and other debris on the ground. Trees fell on an apartment on Elkhorn Trail and damaged the roof. A total of 5288 customers lost power due to downed lines. Fred Waring Drive between El Dorado and Warner Trail in Palm Desert was also closed due to flooding and debris.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindIndian Wells-A couple of trees were downed at La Quinta High School by high wind outflow from thunderstorms to the south. Southeast wind gusts 40 to 45 mph in the lower Coachella Valley were observed.
January 2017FloodIndian Wells-Heavy mountain rain produced flows in the Whitewater River and Palm Canyon Creek that lead to periodic closures of low water crossings in the Coachella Valley, including: Golf Club Dr., Gene Autry Trail., Indian Canyon Dr., Vista Chino Rd., Frank Sinatra Dr., Araby Dr. and Vista Chino.

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
Palm Desert Country1.6 miles29
Bermuda Dunes2.0 miles29
Myoma (historical)2.8 miles28
Sunnyside Estates3.4 miles30
Palm Desert3.5 miles29
La Quinta3.8 miles29
Indio4.9 miles30
Rancho Mirage5.7 miles31

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 Indian WellsAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q490714The 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 1660797. 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.

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.