Pacific Beach, California
34 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1903 and the latest in 1996. It stands in the San Diego census division. It lies in ZIP code area 92109. It lies near West Ski Island. The Survey maps it on the La Jolla quadrangle.
Then and now
1903 to 1996The same ground, surveyed 93 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Compare 1903 against another survey:
Topographic sheets covering this place
12 surveys from 34 printed sheetsMatched 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.
- 1903 USGS La Jolla quadrangle1:62500, 9 printings
- 1904 USGS Southern California Sheet No. 2 quadrangle1:250000, 5 printings
- 1930 USGS La Jolla quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1943 USGS La Jolla quadrangle1:31680, 2 printings
- 1950 USGS San Diego quadrangle1:250000
- 1953 USGS La Jolla quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1954 USGS San Diego quadrangle1:250000
- 1955 USGS San Diego quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS San Diego quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1967 USGS La Jolla quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1979 USGS San Diego quadrangle1:100000, 3 printings
- 1996 USGS La Jolla quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
153 since 2005Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 153 fires within 5 miles of Pacific Beach between 2005 and 2020, burning about 44 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 25 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/undetermined | 88 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 25 |
| Debris and open burning | 13 |
| Smoking | 10 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 7 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 7 |
| Natural | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | San Diego Unit | not named |
| 5 September 2006 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 5 September 2005 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 4 September 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 4 September 2005 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 30 September 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 30 September 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 26 September 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | San Diego Unit | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
8 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of Pacific Beach: 6 past producers, 2 unknowns. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Clay, Salt, Granite, 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dave Martin Pro. Gravel | Granite | Unknown | ||
| Portuguese Flat | Salt | Past Producer | ||
| Twin Oaks Pit | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Unknown | ||
| La Jolla Clay Products Co. | Clay | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| La Jolla Clay Products Co. | Clay | Past Producer | ||
| Union Brick Co. Mine, East Pit | Clay | Past Producer | ||
| Union Brick Co. Mine, North Pit | Clay | Past Producer | ||
| Union Brick Company Mine, West Pit | Clay | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
6 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Pacific Beach in 6 storm reports between 1998 and 2026: 3 flood, 1 rip current, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 debris flow. The reports record 2 deaths and 2 injuries. 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Pacific Beach | 1 killed, 2 hurt, $75,000 | A pine tree 8 ft in diameter succumbed to strong winds, falling on 4 cars and killing a 48 year old woman who was driving down Ingraham Street. An additional tree fell during the cleanup operations, injuring 2 reporters. |
| July 1999 | Rip Current | Pacific Beach | 1 killed | A 19 year old male, visiting from Tucson, AZ , entered the water after being warned by friends not to, was caught in a rip current and drowned. |
| January 2026 | Flood | Pacific Beach | - | Flooding under the bridge on I-5S/Garnet Ave. |
| January 2024 | Flood | Pacific Beach | - | CalTrans report of flooding on I-5 near Mission Bay. |
| April 2020 | Debris Flow | Pacific Beach | - | Flooding on I-5 northbound offramp to Garnet/Grand Streets causing the ramp to temporarily close. |
| July 1998 | Flood | Pacific Beach | - | no account filed |
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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riviera Shores | 0.9 miles | 34 | |
| Mission Beach | 1.2 miles | 23 | |
| Ladrillo (historical) | 1.8 miles | 34 | |
| Morena | 2.1 miles | 34 | |
| Bay Park | 2.1 miles | 34 | |
| La Jolla Hermosa | 2.1 miles | 23 | |
| Bayside Village | 2.3 miles | 34 | |
| The Muirlands | 2.3 miles | 23 |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1661167. 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.











