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La Patera, California

22 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1942 and the latest in 1995. It stands in the Santa Barbara census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93117. It stands on Las Vegas Creek. The Survey maps it on the Goleta quadrangle.

La Patera within Santa Barbara County

Then and now

1942 to 1995

The same ground, surveyed 53 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of La Patera, surveyed 1995
Topographic sheet of La Patera, surveyed 1942

On record in La Patera

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register within a mile 2 records

The National Register names another town for these. They stand within one mile of this settlement's coordinate.

Topographic sheets covering this place

11 surveys from 22 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

101 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 101 fires within 5 miles of La Patera between 1992 and 2020, burning about 14,860 acres in total. None started naturally. 2 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/undetermined61
Equipment and vehicle use23
Power generation/transmission/distribution6
Debris and open burning5
Arson/incendiarism2
Recreation and ceremony2
Fireworks1
Other causes1

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 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresSanta Barbara County Fire Departmentnot named
6 September 2011Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreLos Padres National ForestGAP
30 September 2017Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreLos Padres National ForestTROUT
29 September 2001Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreLos Padres National ForestPEDRO
28 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreLos Padres National ForestWINDY
25 September 2017Missing data/not specified/undetermined2,000 acresCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
13 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreLos Padres National ForestWINDY
12 September 2007Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Santa Barbara 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 La Patera: 2 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, 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
San Marcos Pass QuarryStone, DimensionPast Producer
Ellwood Ranch QuarrySand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Santa Barbara PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Santa Barbara County

Storms near this place

2 since 2014

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names La Patera in 2 storm reports between 2014 and 2026: 2 flash 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
January 2026Flash FloodLa Patera-Heavy rainfall forced the closure of Santa Barbara International Airport. All flights were cancelled.
December 2014Flash FloodLa Patera-Heavy rain generated flash flooding in the community of Isla Vista. Along El Colegio Road, several cars were submerged in flood waters.

Every storm recorded in Santa Barbara 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
Goleta0.8 miles22
Coromar1.4 miles22
Isla Vista1.9 miles22
El Encano Heights2.3 miles24
Ellwood2.5 miles24
Orchams3.5 miles24
El Sueno3.8 miles22
Hope Ranch3.9 miles22

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 La PateraAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q20657915The 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 271937. 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.