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Picacho, California

21 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1942 and the latest in 1986. It stands in the East Imperial census division. It lies in ZIP code area 92266. It stands on Little Picacho Wash. The Survey maps it on the Picacho quadrangle. It stands 203 feet above sea level.

Picacho within Imperial County

Then and now

1942 to 1986

The same ground, surveyed 44 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Picacho, surveyed 1986
Topographic sheet of Picacho, surveyed 1942

Topographic sheets covering this place

11 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

11 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 11 fires within 5 miles of Picacho between 1993 and 2020, burning about 3,966 acres in total. 5 started naturally. 3 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
Natural5
Arson/incendiarism3
Missing data/not specified/undetermined2
Recreation and ceremony1

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 1997Naturalunder an acreColorado River DistrictSTAMPMILL
13 September 2011Natural1.5 acresColorado River DistrictPICACHO STATE PARK
3 July 1995Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresColorado River DistrictTAYLOR
3 July 1995Arson/incendiarismunder an acreImperial National Wildlife RefugePICACHOTP
23 July 2009Natural2.5 acresImperial National Wildlife RefugeNORTON
28 June 2006Natural20 acresImperial National Wildlife RefugeCABIN
21 May 1993Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreColorado River DistrictPICACHO 2
19 May 2013Missing data/not specified/undetermined3,200 acresImperial National Wildlife RefugeISLAND LAKE

Every fire recorded in Imperial County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 51 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 51 workings within 5 miles of Picacho: 25 occurrences, 15 past producers, 4 prospects, 4 unknowns. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Copper, Silver, Lead. 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
Black Rock MineLead, Silver, Zinc, Fluorine-Fluorite, Manganese, MolybdenumPast ProducerVein
Black Rock MineFluorine-Fluorite, Lead, Silver, ZincPast Producer
Gold Reef ProspectIron, TungstenPast Producer
MayflowerLead, SilverOccurrenceGalena, Lead
Pacific and Mandan ClaimsSilver, Lead, Iron, Manganese, Fluorine-FluoritePast ProducerVein
Pacific and Mandan ClaimsIron, Lead, Manganese, SilverPast Producer
Papago MineSilver, Lead, Zinc, Vanadium, Fluorine-Fluorite, Iron, Chlorine, Bismuth, Copper, Manganese, MolybdenumPast ProducerAnglesite, Cerargyrite, Malachite, Pyrolusite, Smithsonite, Vanadinite, Wulfenite
Picacho Copper MineGold, Silver, CopperPast ProducerVein
Picacho MineGold, Mercury, Arsenic, Antimony, Silver, CopperPast Producer1880
Riho ProspectLead, Zinc, Barium-BariteOccurrenceVein

Every working recorded in Imperial County

Storms near this place

3 since 2017

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Picacho in 3 storm reports between 2017 and 2023: 3 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
August 2017Flash FloodPicacho$10,000Scattered thunderstorms developed across the far eastern portion of Imperial County during the late afternoon hours and some of the stronger storms produced locally heavy rains with peak rain rates in excess of one inch per hour. The intense rains led to an episode of flash flooding along highway 78, to the northeast of the town of Glamis. According to the California Highway Patrol and the El Centro Comms Center, heavy rains 15 miles northeast of Glamis caused significant mud, rocks and debris to wash across the highway and this occurred around 1833PST. A Flash Flood Warning was in effect at the time of the flooding; fortunately no accidents or injuries were reported due to the dangerous debris in the road.
September 2017Flash FloodPicacho$3,000Scattered thunderstorms developed over the eastern portion of Imperial County during the morning hours on September 9th, and some of the stronger storms produced locally heavy rains with peak rain rates in excess of one inch per hour. Much of the heavy rain fell over open country, but some of the intense rain fell along Highway 78, between Glamis and Palo Verde. At 1000PST, local law enforcement reported that Highway 78 was closed west of Ogilby Road due to flash flooding and radar indicated that over 2 inches had fallen in the area at the time of the flooding. A Flash Flood Warning had been issued at 0837PST for the area and the warning remained in effect through about 1136PST. Despite the flash flooding, no accidents were reported.
September 2023Flash FloodPicacho-California Highway Patrol incident reports indicated there were vehicles stuck in and/or in between flooded washes on Black Mountain Rd. No injuries or damages were reported.

Every storm recorded in Imperial 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
Obregon14.8 miles24
Paymaster Landing15.9 miles21
Bard16.4 miles28
Ross Corner16.7 miles28
Inperial Gables18.3 miles19
Ogilby18.7 miles24
Cactus18.8 miles27
Dunes19.3 miles24

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 PicachoAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q7190480The 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 1661216. 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.