Vidal, California

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Vidal is a small unincorporated community located in south-eastern California, in San Bernardino County on U.S. Route 95, 38 miles north of Blythe, California and 55 miles south of Needles. The town is 22 miles east of Earp, California and 23 miles east of Parker, Arizona on State Highway 62. The community, which is two miles north of the Riverside County line, lies at an elevation of 812 feet above sea level. Vidal is 221 miles from San Bernardino, making it the second farthest town in the county from the capital (Earp being the first). Wyatt Earp is spent the last winters of his life in Vidal, working claims of gold and copper he found nearby.

During the late 1960's, Vidal was home to the Solar Lodge of the Ordo Templi Orientis, a cult compound located two miles south of the town center. The cult owned all of the businesses in the town of Vidal during their time there and left the area after all members of the cult were arrested for what was to become one of the most horrific tales of child abuse in the history of the State of California. The trial, a case referred to by national and international media as the "Boy in the Box", was the second most notorious crime in the state's history, only being eclipsed by the LaBianca/Tate Murders committed by the Manson Family.

The Zip code for Vidal is 92280.

[edit] Weather

Average temperatures in Vidal in January range from 41°F to 67°F, and July average temperatures range from 78°F to a high of 108°F. The highest temperature ever recorded in Vidal was in 1905, when the temperature reached 127°F. The lowest recorded temperature was in 1911, when a low of 9°F was recorded.

The part of the Sonoran Desert where Vidal is located receives very little rainfall in a normal year. On average, Vidal receives just 5.17 inches of precipitation per year, with July and January averaging just 0.27 and 0.87 inches, respectively.