Alma, Alabama
12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1943 and the latest in 1986. It stands in the Walker Springs census division. It lies in ZIP code area 36540. The Survey maps it on the Alma quadrangle. It stands 259 feet above sea level.
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 12 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1943 USGS Choctaw Bluff quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1946 USGS Choctaw Bluff quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1953 USGS Andalusia quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Andalusia quadrangle1:250000
- 1983 USGS Alma quadrangle1:24000
- 1983 USGS Choctaw Bluff NE quadrangle1:24000
- 1986 USGS Atmore quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
131 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 131 fires within 5 miles of Alma between 1994 and 2020, burning about 3,708 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 41 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 41 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 41 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 27 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 6 |
| Smoking | 4 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 3 |
| Natural | 3 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 3 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 2 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 September 2002 | Smoking | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 19 September 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 18 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | SWR-20140919-001 |
| 11 September 2000 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 29 August 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | CO RD 19, AL |
| 27 August 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | SWR-20130827-001 |
| 24 August 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20160824-3 |
| 17 August 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 15 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20200817-3 |
| 3 July 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 20 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20160703-4 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
9 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Alma in 9 storm reports between 1994 and 2022: 5 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail, 1 lightning. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alma | $50,000 | Thunderstorm wind damaged temporary classroom buildings and took off an awning at the Gillmore Elementary School in Jackson. In Alma, about eight miles east of Jackson, five trees were blown down by the wind and seven acres of corn was laid flat. |
| November 2022 | Lightning | Alma | $20,000 | Lightning struck a house and caused a fire. |
| January 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alma | $20,000 | Winds estimated at 70 mph damaged several homes in the Perry Chapel community. |
| June 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alma | $5,000 | High winds caused minor damage to a residence and vehicle. |
| August 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alma | $3,000 | Winds estimated at 60 mph downed trees near Alma. |
| January 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alma | $2,000 | no account filed |
| July 2000 | Hail | Alma | - | Nickle sized hail was reported as a thunderstorm moved through the community. |
| May 1999 | Hail | Alma | - | Dime size hail was reported just west of Alma. |
| May 1997 | Hail | Alma | - | Dime size hail was reported along CR 27 about three miles west of Alma. |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gainestown | 3.5 miles | 7 | |
| Manila | 3.5 miles | 7 | |
| Choctaw Bluff | 5.5 miles | 12 | |
| Rockville | 5.6 miles | 12 | |
| Walker Springs | 5.6 miles | 8 | |
| Barlow Bend | 6.3 miles | 7 | |
| Jackson | 8.1 miles | 8 | |
| Suggsville | 9.2 miles | 7 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Alma | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2300488 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 155989. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.






