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Montecito, California

21 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1944 and the latest in 1995. It stands in the Santa Barbara census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93108. It lies near San Ysidro Canyon. The Survey maps it on the Santa Barbara quadrangle. 8,638 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 180 feet above sea level.

Montecito within Santa Barbara County

Then and now

1944 to 1995

The same ground, surveyed 51 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Montecito, surveyed 1995
Topographic sheet of Montecito, surveyed 1944

On record in Montecito

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 1 record

Population over time

2 figures

Montecito fell from 8,965 to 8,638 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
20108,965
20208,638-327 (-4%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 surveys from 21 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

48 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 48 fires within 5 miles of Montecito between 1992 and 2020, burning about 2,291 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 4 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/undetermined20
Equipment and vehicle use8
Smoking4
Arson/incendiarism4
Power generation/transmission/distribution4
Debris and open burning3
Recreation and ceremony2
Natural1
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
6 September 1992Missing data/not specified/undetermined10 acresLos Padres National ForestCRAVENS
22 September 2005Other causesunder an acreLos Padres National ForestFLORES
10 September 2011Natural300 acresSanta Barbara County Fire Departmentnot named
6 August 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSanta Barbara County Fire Departmentnot named
6 August 2013Smokingunder an acreSanta Barbara County Fire Departmentnot named
9 July 2013Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresSanta Barbara County Fire Departmentnot named
4 July 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSanta Barbara County Fire Departmentnot named
4 July 2020Smoking1.0 acresSanta Barbara County Fire Departmentnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Santa Barbara County

Mines and quarries near this place

6 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Montecito: 3 past producers, 2 producers, 1 occurrence. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Magnesite, Mercury, Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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
Carpinteria DepositClay, MontmorillonitePast Producer
Hogan QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Los PrietosMercuryProducer
Unnamed LocationMagnesiteOccurrence
Garey Pit and MillSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Santa Barbara County

Storms near this place

10 since 2000

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Montecito in 10 storm reports between 2000 and 2026: 5 thunderstorm wind, 4 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
March 2024Thunderstorm WindMontecito$5,000A trained spotter near Montecito reported downed trees due to gusty thunderstorm winds.
March 2024Thunderstorm WindMontecito$5,000A trained spotter near Montecito reported downed powerlines due to gusty thunderstorm winds.
March 2024Thunderstorm WindMontecito$5,000A trained spotter near Summerland reported downed powerlines due to gusty thunderstorm winds.
February 2026Thunderstorm WindMontecito-Strong thunderstorm winds knocked down a large tree branch across the number 1 and 2 lanes of Highway 101.
March 2024Flash FloodMontecito-California Highway Patrol reported flash flooding of Highway 101 at San Ysidro Road. Five cars were submerged in flood waters.
March 2024Flash FloodMontecito-California Highway Patrol reported flash flooding on Highway 101 at Sheffield. Per officer reports, six inches of water was observed across the southbound lanes of Highway 101.
March 2024Flash FloodMontecito-California Highway Patrol reported flash flooding on Highway 101 between San Ysidro Road and Olive Mill Road.
December 2023Flash FloodMontecito-Significant flooding resulted in the closures of Mountain Drive and Cold Springs Road.
October 2021Thunderstorm WindMontecito-Gusty thunderstorm outflow winds impacted the South Coast of Santa Barbara county. The RAWS sensor at Montecito reported a gust of 78 MPH.
October 2000FloodMontecito-no account filed

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
Summerland2.2 miles25
Ortega2.8 miles25
Serena Park3.4 miles25
Toro Canyon3.6 miles25
Santa Barbara3.7 miles21
Serena4.4 miles25
Mission Canyon4.4 miles21
Sandyland5.0 miles25

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 MontecitoAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1008912The 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 1661052. 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.