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Shaded-relief map of Ponderosa, California: rivers, roads, the city limits and where the water drains.
CALIFORNIA · TULARE COUNTY

Ponderosa

51 people, 7,240 ft above sea level in Tulare County.

7,240 ftElevation, city center
51People, 2024 estimate
1 sq miLand area
Sunny 59°
Sunny now Dew point 27° · S 6 mph · high 37°
City of Ponderosa River Interstate 2 miles
Explore the plate Order a print

The Ponderosa plate. Relief from Copernicus GLO-30; rivers and lakes from USGS NHD; watersheds from the USGS Watershed Boundary Dataset; roads and city limits from Census TIGER 2024.

MILE1
TODAY

Today in Ponderosa

NWS forecast and National Blend of Models · updated 3:00 PM PST
RIGHT NOW Lone Pine/Death Valley Airport (KO26) · 3:55 PM
Sunny
59° Sunny Feels like 59° · high of 37° near 4 PM
WindS 6 mphno gusts
Humidity29%rising to 100% by morning
Pressure30.01 in →steady
Visibility10 mihaze-free
CloudsClear
UV index—no forecast
Dew point 27° · Dry36° by Saturday: more humid
DryComfortableStickyMuggyOppressive
NEXT RAIN
Rain
Monday, about 5 PMin about 49 hours · 57% chance · rain
LIKELY AMOUNT0.02–0.3 inmost likely 0.1; 1 in 10 over 0.4
LAST RAIN—none in 0 days
ALERTS & OUTLOOKS
! Winter Weather AdvisoryWinter Weather Advisory issued November 14 at 8:50AM PST until November 17 at 4:00AM PST by NWS Hanford CA
NWS Hanford and the Storm Prediction Center · checked 4:18 PM
SUN & MOON
↑ 6:29 AM4:47 PM ↓
10 h 17 m of daylight, 2 minutes less than yesterday
Waxing crescent, 27% lit. Next full moon: Nov. 24.
AIR & POLLEN
33
GOODAir quality index · ozone
Tomorrow: 41, good. No pollen source yet.

The next three days, hour by hour

Sky: clear, cloudy, night Rain likely National Blend of Models
SATURDAY, NOV. 14
SUNDAY, NOV. 15
MONDAY, NOV. 16
TUESDAY, NOV. 17
4p
7p
10p
1a
4a
7a
10a
1p
4p
7p
10p
1a
4a
7a
10a
1p
4p
7p
10p
1a
4a
7a
10a
1p
mostly clear night
partly cloudy night
partly cloudy night
partly cloudy night
partly cloudy night
partly cloudy day
partly cloudy day
mostly sunny
mostly clear night
partly cloudy night
partly cloudy night
partly cloudy night
mostly cloudy night
mostly cloudy day
partly cloudy day
partly cloudy day
rain
snow
rain
rain
mostly cloudy night
partly cloudy day
showers day
showers day
TEMPERATURE °F
37°
33°
50°
35°
42°
31°
CHANCE OF RAIN
57% · 0.00 in Monday evening 50%
WIND, MPH
0
2
2
1
1
2
2
1
0
1
1
1
0
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3
HOW IT FEELS · DEW POINT
Dry: dew points 36° ↑ The front passes Drier: 28° by Tuesday

The next seven days, and how sure we are

Forecast, with the range 8 in 10 ensemble members agree on Normal, about 80° / 62°
SAT Nov. 14 Partly cloudy Partly cloudy
37° 32°
0% rain — SSW 0 A
SUN Nov. 15 Partly cloudy; warmer Partly cloudy; warmer
50° 33°
0% rain — E 2 B
MON Nov. 16 Chance of showers Chance of showers
43° 30°
60% rain 0.02–0.3″ NW 2 B
TUE Nov. 17 Chance of showers Chance of showers
36° 26°
30% rain — W 2 B
WED Nov. 18 Showers likely Showers likely
41° 30°
80% rain 0.2–2.0″ WSW 1 B
THU Nov. 19 Showers likely Showers likely
35° 25°
90% rain 0.9–2.5″ SW 1 C
FRI Nov. 20 Chance of showers Chance of showers
37° 23°
30% rain up to 0.08″ WSW 5 C
How sure are we? AModels agree: highs within 4° BSome spread: within 8° CWide spread: check back
Range from the National Blend of Models percentiles · graded on Forecast Scores
AIR MAIL

Where today’s air came from

The air arriving over Ponderosa about 5,000 feet above the ground was over the Sonoran Desert three days ago, and over southern California a day ago, about 660 miles back along its path. Most of the nine paths traced from around the city agree. It came down from about 15,000 feet up, warming and drying as it sank. Near the ground the air came from the desert Southwest; at 10,000 feet, from the California coast. Traced back 72 hours through NOAA’s hourly RAP analyses, nine paths at each of three heights.

MILE2
THE GROUND

What Ponderosa stands on

Ponderosa’s center stands about 7,240 ft above sea level. Within three miles the land runs from 5,790 ft to 8,900 ft, a difference of 3,110 ft: mountain country. The highest named summit within 15 miles is Angora Mountain, about 10,160 ft, 12 miles north-northeast.

Under the town center the state geologic map shows Mesozoic granitic rocks, unit 3 (Sierra Nevada, Death Valley area, Northern Mojave Desert and Transverse Ranges) (granodiorite), from the Permian to Tertiary, 2.6 to 260 million years old.

The section below crosses 2 rock units mapped at the surface.

Ponderosa, cut in half from northwest to southeast

A section northwest to southeast, 24 miles through the town center
2,500 ft5,000 ft7,500 ft PONDEROSA7,240 ftLow point2,490 ftKern Riverabout 4,530 ftLookout Mountain9,710 ft ← NWSE →

Heights every 0.1 mile from the Copernicus GLO-90 surface model; vertical exaggeration about 3×. The colored band under the surface is the rock the state geologic map shows at the surface, not a picture of what lies beneath.

Rock at the surface along the line

Mesozoic granitic rocks, unit 3 (Sierra Nevada, Death Valley area, Northern Mojave Desert and Transverse Ranges)

Granodiorite. Age: Permian to Tertiary, 2.6 to 260 million years old. About 19 mi of the line.

Pre-Cenozoic metasedimentary and metavolcanic rocks undivided

Schist, gneiss. Age: Paleoproterozoic to Cretaceous, 66 to 2,500 million years old. About 5 mi of the line.

From the USGS State Geologic Map Compilation (Horton and others, 2017), the states’ geologic maps joined at a common scale.

Heights from Copernicus GLO-90 (a surface model: it includes buildings and tree canopy); summits from USGS GNIS; rivers from USGS NHDPlus HR; rock from the USGS State Geologic Map Compilation.
MILE3
THE WATER

Where Ponderosa’s rain goes

A raindrop that lands in Ponderosa reaches the Tulare Lake basin by way of Peppermint Creek and the Kern: about 110 river miles. The Tulare Lake basin has no outlet to the sea: the water leaves only by evaporating or soaking into the ground.

THE WAY DOWN, TO SCALE
Ponderosa≈ 110 mi · the Tulare Lake basin
FROM THE CENTER OF PONDEROSA ≈ 110 mi to the Tulare Lake basin Peppermint Creek → Kern

Lake on the way: Isabella Lake.

70 miles of the trip are on the Kern.

A lake that comes back. The bed of Tulare Lake is farmland now; in very wet years it floods again.

Traced down the USGS NHDPlus V2.1 river network from the Census center point of Ponderosa; river miles along the main stem, rounded.

MILE7
ON THE NETWORK

Around Ponderosa on the Forecast Network

Neighboring plates

Porterville CA · 28 MI 28 miles west Fresno CA · 84 MI 84 miles northwest Los Angeles CA · 144 MI 144 miles south Las Vegas NV · 183 MI 183 miles east San Jose CA · 200 MI 200 miles northwest
FORECASTCITY
Map of Ponderosa, California. Explore the plate
CALIFORNIA · TULARE

Ponderosa

51 people, 7,240 ft above sea level in Tulare County.

7,240 ftElevation
51People
1 sq miLand
Sunny 59°
SunnyDew point 27°
1

Today in Ponderosa

NEXT 15 HOURS
Now partly cloudy day 37° 0%
7p partly cloudy night 34° 0%
10p partly cloudy night 33° 0%
1a partly cloudy night 34° 0%
4a partly cloudy night 33° 0%
7a partly cloudy day 36° 0%
Rain
NEXT RAINMonday about 5 PM · 57%
→
Sat0%
Partly cloudy Partly cloudy
32
37
A
Sun0%
Partly cloudy; warmer Partly cloudy; warmer
33
50
B
Mon60%
Chance of showers Chance of showers
30
43
B
Tue30%
Chance of showers Chance of showers
26
36
B
Wed80%
Showers likely Showers likely
30
41
B
Thu90%
Showers likely Showers likely
25
35
C
Fri30%
Chance of showers Chance of showers
23
37
C
Letters show how sure the forecast is: A, models agree; B, some spread; C, check back. Sample data.
2

What Ponderosa stands on

Ponderosa’s center stands about 7,240 ft above sea level. Within three miles the land runs from 5,790 ft to 8,900 ft, a difference of 3,110 ft: mountain country. The highest named summit within 15 miles is Angora Mountain, about 10,160 ft, 12 miles north-northeast.

Ponderosa, northwest to southeast Ponderosa7,240 ftKern Riverabout 4,530 ft ← NWSE → 24 miles through the town center; vertical exaggeration about 6×. Colors: rock at the surface.
Elevation, center7,240 ft
Within 3 miles5,790 to 8,900 ft
Lie of the landMountainous (3,110 ft of relief)
High point nearbyAngora Mountain, 10,160 ft, 12 mi north-northeast
Rock at the surfaceMesozoic granitic rocks, unit 3 (Sierra Nevada, Death Valley area, Northern Mojave Desert and Transverse Ranges)
Its agePermian to Tertiary, 2.6 to 260 million years old
3

Where the rain goes

≈ 110 mito the Tulare Lake basinPeppermint Creek → Kern

A raindrop that lands in Ponderosa reaches the Tulare Lake basin by way of Peppermint Creek and the Kern: about 110 river miles. The Tulare Lake basin has no outlet to the sea: the water leaves only by evaporating or soaking into the ground.

Lake on the way: Isabella Lake.

70 miles of the trip are on the Kern.

A lake that comes back. The bed of Tulare Lake is farmland now; in very wet years it floods again.