The Aurora 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.
Partly cloudy
Partly cloudy; warmer
Mostly cloudy
Showers likely
Partly cloudy
Showers likely
Showers likely
−12° on Nov. 17, 1964, the coldest reading for this week of the year since 1893. Next is −2° in 1955.
Aurora’s center stands about 5,180 ft above sea level. Within three miles the land runs from 5,130 ft to 6,380 ft, a difference of 1,250 ft: steep hill country. The highest named summit within 15 miles is Pioneer Peak, about 10,090 ft, 14 miles west-northwest.
Under the town center the state geologic map shows Alluvium and colluvium (unconsolidated), from the Quaternary, less than 2.6 million years old.
The section below crosses 7 rock units mapped at the surface.
Heights every 0.1 mile from the Copernicus GLO-90 surface model; vertical exaggeration about 4×. The colored band under the surface is the rock the state geologic map shows at the surface, not a picture of what lies beneath.
Unconsolidated. Age: Quaternary, less than 2.6 million years old. About 9 mi of the line.
Siltstone-mudstone, sandstone. Age: Late Cretaceous to Early Eocene, 48 to 84 million years old. About 5 mi of the line.
Shale, marlstone. Age: Early Eocene to Late Eocene, 34 to 56 million years old. About 4 mi of the line.
Sandstone. Age: Late Eocene to Early Oligocene, 28 to 38 million years old. About 3 mi of the line.
Mudstone. Age: Middle Jurassic, 164 to 175 million years old. About 2 mi of the line.
Felsic-volcanic. Age: Late Oligocene to Middle Miocene, 12 to 28 million years old. About 1 mi of the line.
From the USGS State Geologic Map Compilation (Horton and others, 2017), the states’ geologic maps joined at a common scale. 1 smaller unit along the line are not listed.
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.
A raindrop that lands in Aurora reaches Sevier Lake by way of the Sevier: about 210 river miles. Sevier Lake has no outlet to the sea: the water leaves only by evaporating or soaking into the ground.
Traced down the USGS NHDPlus V2.1 river network from the Census center point of Aurora; river miles along the main stem, rounded.
Aurora has a cold semi-arid climate. Summer afternoons average 90° in July; winter nights fall to about 16° in December. A normal year brings about 18 inches of snow; with the rain, that comes to about 8 inches of water.
On November 14 Aurora normally reaches 54° and falls to 24°. The record high is 74°, in 1967; the record low 5°, in 1916. The most rain on this date, 0.45 in, fell in 1991.
Normals 1991–2020 and records since 1893 at Richfield Radio Ksvc, 13 miles southwest, 100 ft higher. NOAA, through RCC-ACIS.
