Thermalito, California
29 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1891 and the latest in 1980. It stands in the Oroville census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95965. The Survey maps it on the Oroville quadrangle. 7,198 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 223 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1891 to 1980The same ground, surveyed 89 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Population over time
2 figuresThermalito grew from 6,646 to 7,198 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 6,646 | |
| 2020 | 7,198 | +552 (+8%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
12 surveys from 29 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.
- 1891 USGS Chico quadrangle1:125000
- 1893 USGS Chico quadrangle1:125000
- 1895 USGS Chico quadrangle1:125000, 8 printings
- 1912 USGS Oroville quadrangle1:31680, 2 printings
- 1942 USGS Oroville quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1944 USGS Oroville quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1947 USGS Oroville quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1949 USGS Oroville quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Chico quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1960 USGS Chico quadrangle1:250000
- 1970 USGS Oroville quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1980 USGS Chico quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
1,150 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1,150 fires within 5 miles of Thermalito between 1992 and 2020, burning about 32,985 acres in total. 8 started naturally. 182 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 | 464 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 266 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 182 |
| Debris and open burning | 93 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 88 |
| Smoking | 23 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 11 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 10 |
| Natural | 8 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 4 |
| Other causes | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | R61D |
| 9 September 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Butte Unit | BANGOR |
| 9 September 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1.0 acres | Butte Unit | PALERMO |
| 9 September 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Butte Unit | LARKIN IC WHITE 3 |
| 9 September 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Butte Unit | WYNDOTTE |
| 9 September 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Butte Unit | TRUCK |
| 9 September 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Butte Unit | FEATHER |
| 8 September 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Butte Unit | GAYLOR AVE ORO |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 44 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 44 workings within 5 miles of Thermalito: 18 past producers, 11 unknowns, 10 producers, 5 occurrences. 10 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Silver, Silver, Gold. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feather River District | Gold, Iridium, Platinum, Osmium | Past Producer | 1849, 1895 | |
| Oroville | Silver, Gold | Past Producer | ||
| Oroville District | Gold, Platinum | Past Producer | 1849 | |
| Table Mountain Clay Products Co | Clay | Unknown | ||
| Amo | Gold, Silver | Past Producer | ||
| Donnie Lee | Gold, Silver | Past Producer | ||
| Lemroh | Gold, Silver | Past Producer | ||
| Oroville | Gold, Silver | Unknown | ||
| Patterson-Inman Property | Gold, Silver | Past Producer | ||
| Dry Creek Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
3 since 2011Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Thermalito in 3 storm reports between 2011 and 2019: 1 tornado, 1 funnel cloud, 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2011 | Tornado (EF2) | Thermalito | $120,000 | The third tornado in the outbreak developed approximately northwest of Oroville in Butte County at approximately 645 pm and moved northeast. It caused significant damage to a ranch property near the intersection of Table Mountain Road and Hwy 70 including the destruction of a large, well built garage and significant damage to an open barn. The rating of an EF2 was based upon the destruction of the garage, though evidence was found of the footing boards being bolted to the slab in the front portion of the structure. The estimated highest wind speed (3 second gust) based upon damage with this tornado is 120 mph. There were no injuries nor fatalities. |
| January 2019 | Funnel Cloud | Thermalito | - | There was a public report of a possible funnel cloud near southwest Oroville. No touch down was observed. |
| January 2019 | Flood | Thermalito | - | Cottonwood Road closed between Highway 99 and Table Mountain Blvd. due to flooding. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yuman (historical) | 1.5 miles | 29 | |
| Oroville | 1.6 miles | 29 | |
| South Oroville | 2.1 miles | 25 | |
| Lava Beds (historical) | 2.7 miles | 25 | |
| Kramm | 2.9 miles | 29 | |
| Oroville Junction | 3.4 miles | 26 | |
| Lorraine (historical) | 4.4 miles | 22 | |
| Quartz (historical) | 4.9 miles | 29 |
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 Thermalito | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2261584 | The 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 1659991. 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.











