Alta, California
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Alta, California | |
|---|---|
 An Amtrak train passing through Alta in 2025 | |
  Alta, California Location with the United States | |
| Coordinates: 39°12′24″N 120°48′41″W / 39.20667°N 120.81139°W | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  California |
| County | Placer |
| Area | |
• Total | 2.39 sq mi (6.19 km2) |
| • Land | 2.38 sq mi (6.17 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0077 sq mi (0.02 km2) 0.28% |
| Elevation | 3,730 ft (1,140 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 615 |
| • Density | 258.0/sq mi (99.62/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC-8 (Pacific (PST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-7 (PDT) |
| ZIP Code | 95701 |
| Area code | 530, 837 |
| FIPS code | 06-01276 |
| GNIS feature ID | 2628704[2] |
Alta (Spanish for "Upper") is a small unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Placer County, California, United States, about 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Auburn. The village is located off Interstate 80 and along the historical First transcontinental railroad. The ZIP code is 95701 and the area code 530. One of the few buildings other than private residences is the Alta-Dutch Flat Grammar School serving kindergarten through eighth grade students. The high school that serves Alta is named Colfax High School. Colfax High School is 11 miles southwest in the incorporated town of Colfax. The population of Alta was 615 at the 2020 census.
A historical California place once named Alta was located in San Diego County[3] near the present-day La Mesa–El Cajon boundary. This historical place was along the San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway, now the San Diego Trolley Orange Line[broken anchor], at its Murray Drive undercrossing in La Mesa.[citation needed] The community was named after the Spanish word meaning "upper" or "high".[4]
Climate
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP covers an area of 2.4 square miles (6.2 km2), 99.72% of it land, and 0.28% of it water.
Blue Canyon–Nyack Airport has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Csb) according to the Köppen climate classification system. Summers are generally warm with cool nights, while winters are moderately cold and extremely snowy, despite no month having an average low temperature below freezing.
| Climate data for Blue Canyon, California (Blue Canyon–Nyack Airport), 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1943–present | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 76 (24) |
73 (23) |
72 (22) |
82 (28) |
88 (31) |
92 (33) |
95 (35) |
97 (36) |
96 (36) |
88 (31) |
78 (26) |
75 (24) |
97 (36) |
| Mean maximum °F (°C) | 63.1 (17.3) |
60.7 (15.9) |
63.1 (17.3) |
71.4 (21.9) |
76.3 (24.6) |
85.2 (29.6) |
87.3 (30.7) |
86.6 (30.3) |
85.3 (29.6) |
76.5 (24.7) |
69.5 (20.8) |
61.1 (16.2) |
89.5 (31.9) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 46.5 (8.1) |
45.0 (7.2) |
48.2 (9.0) |
52.0 (11.1) |
60.6 (15.9) |
69.8 (21.0) |
77.8 (25.4) |
77.4 (25.2) |
72.9 (22.7) |
62.9 (17.2) |
51.2 (10.7) |
44.8 (7.1) |
59.1 (15.1) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 40.4 (4.7) |
39.0 (3.9) |
41.5 (5.3) |
44.8 (7.1) |
53.1 (11.7) |
62.1 (16.7) |
70.2 (21.2) |
69.8 (21.0) |
65.1 (18.4) |
55.5 (13.1) |
45.1 (7.3) |
39.2 (4.0) |
52.2 (11.2) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 34.4 (1.3) |
33.1 (0.6) |
34.7 (1.5) |
37.5 (3.1) |
45.6 (7.6) |
54.4 (12.4) |
62.7 (17.1) |
62.1 (16.7) |
57.2 (14.0) |
48.1 (8.9) |
39.0 (3.9) |
33.6 (0.9) |
45.2 (7.3) |
| Mean minimum °F (°C) | 21.6 (−5.8) |
19.9 (−6.7) |
23.0 (−5.0) |
24.9 (−3.9) |
31.6 (−0.2) |
38.5 (3.6) |
53.9 (12.2) |
52.9 (11.6) |
41.2 (5.1) |
33.0 (0.6) |
25.8 (−3.4) |
20.3 (−6.5) |
16.5 (−8.6) |
| Record low °F (°C) | 5 (−15) |
6 (−14) |
9 (−13) |
17 (−8) |
21 (−6) |
28 (−2) |
36 (2) |
35 (2) |
27 (−3) |
17 (−8) |
13 (−11) |
3 (−16) |
3 (−16) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 9.87 (251) |
10.56 (268) |
9.40 (239) |
4.76 (121) |
3.71 (94) |
1.20 (30) |
0.09 (2.3) |
0.28 (7.1) |
1.03 (26) |
3.87 (98) |
8.39 (213) |
11.46 (291) |
64.62 (1,640.4) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 48.1 (122) |
43.5 (110) |
49.8 (126) |
25.0 (64) |
7.5 (19) |
0.6 (1.5) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.4 (1.0) |
2.7 (6.9) |
24.0 (61) |
38.8 (99) |
240.3 (610) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) | 11.5 | 11.8 | 11.6 | 10.5 | 6.0 | 2.6 | 0.6 | 1.1 | 2.8 | 6.1 | 10.5 | 14.4 | 89.5 |
| Source 1: NOAA (mean maxima and minima 2006–2020)[5][6] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: WRCC (snowfall 1940–2012)[7] | |||||||||||||
