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La Quinta, 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 92253. It stands on Bear Creek. The Survey maps it on the La Quinta quadrangle. 37,558 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 135 feet above sea level.

La Quinta 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 La Quinta, surveyed 1984
Topographic sheet of La Quinta, surveyed 1904

Population over time

2 figures

La Quinta grew from 37,467 to 37,558 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
201037,467
202037,558+91 (+0%)

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

472 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 472 fires within 5 miles of La Quinta between 1992 and 2020, burning about 569 acres in total. 9 started naturally. 39 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/undetermined241
Equipment and vehicle use73
Misuse of fire by a minor52
Arson/incendiarism39
Smoking34
Debris and open burning9
Natural9
Recreation and ceremony9
Power generation/transmission/distribution6

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 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresRiverside UnitAVE 54 COAC
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 2000Naturalunder an acreCalifornia Desert DistrictLOCAL FIRE
6 September 1994Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreRiverside UnitLOCAL
5 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreRiverside UnitARAPAHOE CI INDW
5 September 2007Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreRiverside UnitMONROE ST / AVE 53

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Riverside County

Mines and quarries near this place

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of La Quinta: 2 past producers. None of them still produces. 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
Gravel PitsSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Riverside Co. Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Riverside County

Storms near this place

14 since 2001

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names La Quinta in 14 storm reports between 2001 and 2024: 4 thunderstorm wind, 4 heavy rain, 3 flash flood, 1 debris flow. 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 2013Flash FloodLa Quinta$120,000Significant water flow on Whitewater storm channel through la quinta was reported by the Coachella Valley Water District. The water was contained in channel, but flowed through some golf courses. Waist deep water was reported along some roadways, stalling and nearly submerging several vehicles. A driver noted that the flooding came on quickly, in about 20-20 minutes.
September 2004Thunderstorm WindLa Quinta$100,000Thunderstorm wind gusts toppled at least 138 trees at "The Palms" golfcourse in La Quinta. One tree caused damage when it fell into a maintenance building. Other area golfcourses also reported downed trees. A building at Avenue 58 and Madison Street had its roof tiles blown off which resulted in some minor water damage to the interior. Nine utility poles were blown over and four transformers were lost as a result of the winds. At around the same time, nearby Thermal Airport reported a gust of 46 mph, but it is possible that winds were gusting to around 70 mph or greater in the La Quinta area.
September 2001Thunderstorm WindLa Quinta$50,000no account filed
September 2024Funnel CloudLa Quinta-Several photos and videos of a long lived extended funnel cloud moving north to south along the San Jacinto ridgeline, viewed from La Quinta. Convective showers and thunderstorms occurred over the mountains and a few moved into the valleys. Video showed clear rotation of the funnel.
August 2023FloodLa Quinta-Heavy rainfall from Tropical Storm Hilary lead to flooding waters several feet deep at the La Quinta Resort and Club.
August 2022Heavy RainLa Quinta-Toro Peak HPWREN site measured 1.11 inches of rain in 1 hour.
September 2022Heavy RainLa Quinta-Mesonet station on Toro Peak via HPWREN reported 0.52 inch of rain in one hour.
July 2021Heavy RainLa Quinta-CoCoRaHS station CA-RV-79 La Quinta 0.9 WNW reported 1.52 inch of heavy rain.
March 2020Debris FlowLa Quinta-Report of a mudslide near mile marker 74 on Highway 74 near Pinyon Pines.
July 2019Heavy RainLa Quinta-Upper Bear Creek gage reported 2.4 inches of rainfall in 3 hours.
July 2009Thunderstorm WindLa Quinta-A trained spotter reported a 61 MPH wind gust around 1650 PST near the southern part of La Quinta Cove. The storm also produced brief heavy rain and frequent lightning.
September 2008Thunderstorm WindLa Quinta-A trained spotter measured a 67 mph wind gust in La Quinta. This wind gust was the result of outflow from a thunderstorm nearly 30 miles to the southeast.
August 2005Flash FloodLa Quinta-Mud and rockslides reported along SR74 at Vista Point.
August 2004Flash FloodLa Quinta-A slow moving thunderstorm sent water rushing over Jefferson Street in La Quinta. The water in some spots was a little more than one foot deep.

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
Indian Wells3.8 miles29
Sunnyside Estates4.2 miles30
Palm Desert5.3 miles29
Palm Desert Country5.3 miles29
Vista Santa Rosa5.5 miles30
Bermuda Dunes5.6 miles29
Cahuilla Hills5.9 miles31
Myoma (historical)6.3 miles28

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 QuintaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q983614The 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 1660870. 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.