Pasadena

Sister cities

• Vanadzor
• Xicheng District
• Ludwigshafen
• Mishima
• Järvenpää
• Tangier

History

Native Americans lived in the Los Angeles Basin for thousands of years. The earliest known inhabitants of present-day Pasadena and its surroundings were members of the Hahamog-na tribe, a branch of the Tongva Nation. They spoke the Tongva language, belonging to the Northern subfamily of the Uto-Aztecan language group. Pasadena means "valley" in the language of the Ojibwe, a Native American tribe not local to the region. The name was chosen by American settlers from Indiana who would later move to the area. The Spanish first colonized the Los Angeles Basin in the 1770s as part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, building the San Gabriel Mission and renaming the local Tongva people "Gabrielinos" or "Gabrieleños", after the name of the mission. Today, several bands of Tongva people live in the Los Angeles area. In 1821, Mexico became independent of Spain, and California came under control of the Mexican government. In 1833, the mission lands were secularized and most of the lands in California were granted to private Mexican citizens in the form of ranchos. Present-day Pasadena was divided between Rancho San Rafael (lands west of the Arroyo Seco extending to present-day Burbank in the northwest to Glassell Park in the southwest), Rancho del Rincon de San Pascual, Rancho del Rincon de San Pascual was so named because it was deeded on Easter Sunday to Eulalia Perez de Guillén Mariné of Mission San Gabriel Arcángel. The last of the Mexican owners of Rancho del Rincon de San Pascual was Manuel Garfias, To keep the find a secret, Berry code-named the area "Muscat" after the grape that Wilson grew. To raise funds to bring the company of people to San Pascual, Berry formed the Southern California Orange and Citrus Growers Association and sold stock in it. The newcomers were…

Geography

The greater Pasadena area is bounded by the Raymond Fault line, the San Rafael Hills, and the San Gabriel Mountains. The Arroyo Seco, a major geographic feature and home of the Rose Bowl, flows from headwaters in Pasadena's towering Angeles National Forest greenbelt in the San Gabriel Mountains. Pasadena has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csa), with typically hotter summers and slightly cooler winters than nearby coastal areas. Its location relative to the San Gabriel mountains allows the orographic lift to add several more inches of rainfall per year than nearby areas. During the first few months of the year, Pasadena experiences cool to warm highs, typically in the upper 60s () to lower 70s (). Colder days are usually accompanied by heavier rain. By April, temperatures warm further, and rain tapers off significantly. By May and June, rain is typically sparse, but the marine layer becomes more persistent. Locals have dubbed June "June Gloom" as it is the cloudiest month despite being the 3rd driest month. By July, the marine layer subsides as inland areas cool due to an increased monsoon flow. Heatwaves from July through October can be oppressive and lengthy. In addition, it rarely rains during the summer and fall months, and only does when the remnants of hurricanes and tropical storms pass by. In fact, some days in both July and August have never recorded rainfall. It is not impossible to go 6 months without measurable precipitation. The average highest temperature recorded each year is around . The hottest heatwaves of the year usually occur in mid to late September. By late October, temperatures drop off. By November, Pacific storms return to Pasadena, bringing increasingly heavy rain and cooler weather. Along with them, however, are the Santa Ana winds. The…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  64,442
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  56,559
• California Towhee

  Melozone crissalis (Vigors, 1839) · Aves
  49,365
• Black Phoebe

  Sayornis nigricans (Swainson, 1827) · Aves
  49,240
• Lesser Goldfinch

  Spinus psaltria (Say, 1822) · Aves
  47,309
• Common Raven

  Corvus corax Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  46,393
• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  43,107
• Anna's Hummingbird

  Calypte anna (R.Lesson, 1829) · Aves
  42,262

Largest nearby schools

• Arcadia High
  High · Arcadia · 3,022 students · 25:1 ratio
• Crescenta Valley High
  High · La Crescenta · 2,488 students · 23.9:1 ratio
• James A. Garfield Senior High
  High · Los Angeles · 2,247 students · 17.6:1 ratio
• Schurr High
  High · Montebello · 2,224 students · 20.2:1 ratio
• Mark Keppel High
  High · Alhambra · 2,205 students · 26.3:1 ratio
• Alhambra High
  High · Alhambra · 2,160 students · 22.7:1 ratio
• Eagle Rock High
  High · Los Angeles · 2,069 students · 19.9:1 ratio
• La Canada High
  High · La Canada · 1,993 students · 24.3:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 3.16 — 2026-10-09
  2 km SW of Signal Hill, CA
• M 2.7 — 2026-10-08
  2 km WNW of Fontana, CA
• M 3.81008714964485 — 2026-09-30
  4 km SE of Piru, CA
• M 3.55404092525043 — 2026-09-27
  7 km WSW of Hermosa Beach, CA
• M 2.53 — 2026-09-18
  11 km N of Fillmore, CA
• M 2.94 — 2026-09-17
  4 km SSE of Compton, CA