BlockBefore

Venola, California

27 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1910 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Bakersfield census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93313. The Survey maps it on the Gosford quadrangle. It stands 374 feet above sea level.

Venola within Kern County

Then and now

1910 to 1981

The same ground, surveyed 71 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Venola, surveyed 1981
Topographic sheet of Venola, surveyed 1910

Topographic sheets covering this place

14 surveys from 27 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

330 since 2005

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 330 fires within 5 miles of Venola between 2005 and 2020, burning about 371 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 43 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/undetermined238
Arson/incendiarism43
Equipment and vehicle use16
Smoking12
Misuse of fire by a minor11
Debris and open burning8
Natural2

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 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKern County Fire Departmentnot named
8 September 2020Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreKern County Fire Departmentnot named
8 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
8 September 2007Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
7 September 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
3 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
28 September 2009Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
25 September 2019Smokingunder an acreKern County Fire Departmentnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Kern 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 Venola: 5 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Silica. 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
Kern River PitSilicaPast Producer
County PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Kern River Commun Use PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Kern River PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Unnamed QuarrySand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Webster Sand Co. PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Kern County

Storms near this place

8 since 2017

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Venola in 8 storm reports between 2017 and 2025: 5 flood, 2 debris flow, 1 funnel cloud. 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
September 2017Debris FlowVenola$50,000California Highway Patrol reported State Route 99 was closed in both directions for about an hour due to power poles downed by thunderstorm wind gusts and a mud slide onto the road near Panama Lane in Bakersfield.
March 2025Funnel CloudVenola-Broadcast media report of a funnel cloud in southwest Bakersfield.
February 2023FloodVenola-California Highway Patrol reported flooding on southbound SR 99 south of Wilson Rd.
March 2023FloodVenola-California Highway Patrol reported flooding on northbound SR 99 south of Wilson Rd. in Bakersfield.
December 2022FloodVenola-California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding on northbound SR 99 at the White Ln. exchange.
December 2022FloodVenola-California Highway Patrol reported flooding in all lanes of SR 99 at the intersection of White Ln.
March 2019FloodVenola-California Highway Patrol reported flooding on one lane of northbound State Route 99 at Wilson Rd. in Bakersfield.
September 2017Debris FlowVenola-California Highway Patrol reported a mud slide and road flooding due to heavy rainfall on southbound State Route 99 just north of White Ln. in Bakersfield.

Every storm recorded in Kern 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
Wible Orchard1.8 miles27
Gosford2.0 miles27
Old Stine2.6 miles27
Olde Stockdale2.6 miles27
Benton Park2.8 miles27
Rexland Acres3.0 miles29
Panama3.0 miles27
Kern City3.1 miles27

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.

Wikidata item Q7920163The 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 253001. 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.