BlockBefore

Vista, California

40 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1893 and the latest in 1996. It stands in the Oceanside-Escondido census division. It lies in ZIP code area 92083. It lies near Breeze Hill. The Survey maps it on the San Marcos quadrangle. 98,381 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 325 feet above sea level.

Vista within San Diego County

Then and now

1893 to 1996

The same ground, surveyed 103 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Vista, surveyed 1996
Topographic sheet of Vista, surveyed 1893

Compare 1893 against another survey:

On record in Vista

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 2 records

Population over time

2 figures

Vista grew from 93,834 to 98,381 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
201093,834
202098,381+4,547 (+5%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

16 surveys from 40 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

381 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 381 fires within 5 miles of Vista between 1992 and 2020, burning about 739 acres in total. 4 started naturally. 53 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/undetermined201
Equipment and vehicle use65
Arson/incendiarism53
Misuse of fire by a minor22
Smoking13
Recreation and ceremony11
Debris and open burning9
Natural4
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Fireworks1

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
8 September 2011Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSan Diego Unitnot named
8 September 1995Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreSan Diego UnitWINTERHAVEN
7 September 2005Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
6 September 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
6 September 1996Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreSan Diego UnitTWIN OAKS
6 September 1995Recreation and ceremony4.0 acresSan Diego UnitGOPHER FIRE
4 September 2009Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
3 September 2011Arson/incendiarismunder an acreSan Diego Unitnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in San Diego County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 38 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 38 workings within 5 miles of Vista: 25 past producers, 12 producers, 1 prospect. 12 still produce. What was taken out: Granite, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone. 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
Crystal Silica CompanySilicaPast Producer
Hogerman PropertyBerylliumProspect
Marrow QuarryStoneProducer
Carlsbad PitStone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Mission Road PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
South Coast PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
U. S. Silica PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Wyroc PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Bryant, D. G., San MarcosStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Calavera QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer

Every working recorded in San Diego County

Storms near this place

8 since 2000

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Vista in 8 storm reports between 2000 and 2023: 3 flood, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 dust devil, 1 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
January 2016Thunderstorm WindVista$60,000Strong thunderstorm winds damaged 8 buildings and downed power lines in Vista. A tornado is possible, but still under investigation.
April 2000Thunderstorm WindVista$10,000no account filed
September 2004Dust DevilVista$100A strong dust devil ripped a sign off a fence and threw it 40 feet away over a house. Other debris was seen flying through the air around the dust devil.
February 2023FloodVista-CalTrans report of flooding across both lanes of Foothill Drive due to heavy rain.
March 2022FloodVista-Vista Village Drive and High 78 off-ramp completely flooded towards bottom, reported by CHP Caltrans. No rain gauges in Vista, but Palomar-Carlsbad airport had 0.95 inch total and downstream Deer Springs had 1.27 inches.
July 2005Heavy RainVista-Many residents in San Diego County awoke during the early morning hours of the 23rd to the sound of heavy rain and thunder as tropical moisture associated with the remnants of former hurricane Emily brought widespread thunderstorms from the desert to the coast. The Cooperative Observer in Vista measured 0.75 inches of rain and reported that lightning had sparked some fires. A nearby trained spotter measured 0.70 inches in 30 minutes. Considerable debris cloudiness would limit thunderstorm activity in San Diego County that afternoon, however much stronger heating and instability to the north triggered severe thunderstorms in Riverside County.
October 2004Flash FloodVista-Heavy rains at Gopher Canyon left 1 1/2 feet of water across roadways.
December 2002FloodVista-no account filed

Every storm recorded in San Diego 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
Ocean Hills2.6 miles48
Buena2.6 miles40
Talich4.0 miles48
Oceana4.7 miles48
Twin Oaks4.8 miles40
San Luis Rey4.8 miles48
Lake San Marcos5.4 miles40
San Marcos5.6 miles40

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 VistaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q924241The 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 1661645. 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.