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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.

Alma within Clarke County

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 12 printed sheets

Matched 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.

Fires near this place

131 since 1994

Regional 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 burning41
Arson/incendiarism41
Missing data/not specified/undetermined27
Equipment and vehicle use6
Smoking4
Recreation and ceremony3
Natural3
Power generation/transmission/distribution3
Railroad operations and maintenance2
Misuse of fire by a minor1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
4 September 2002Smoking1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
19 September 2014Missing data/not specified/undetermined18 acresAlabama Forestry CommissionSWR-20140919-001
11 September 2000Debris and open burning2.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
29 August 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined30 acresAlabama Forestry CommissionCO RD 19, AL
27 August 2013Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreAlabama Forestry CommissionSWR-20130827-001
24 August 2016Missing data/not specified/undetermined5.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20160824-3
17 August 2020Arson/incendiarism15 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20200817-3
3 July 2016Arson/incendiarism20 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20160703-4

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Clarke County

Storms near this place

9 since 1994

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 1994Thunderstorm WindAlma$50,000Thunderstorm 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 2022LightningAlma$20,000Lightning struck a house and caused a fire.
January 2017Thunderstorm WindAlma$20,000Winds estimated at 70 mph damaged several homes in the Perry Chapel community.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindAlma$5,000High winds caused minor damage to a residence and vehicle.
August 2011Thunderstorm WindAlma$3,000Winds estimated at 60 mph downed trees near Alma.
January 1996Thunderstorm WindAlma$2,000no account filed
July 2000HailAlma-Nickle sized hail was reported as a thunderstorm moved through the community.
May 1999HailAlma-Dime size hail was reported just west of Alma.
May 1997HailAlma-Dime size hail was reported along CR 27 about three miles west of Alma.

Every storm recorded in Clarke County

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 PlaceDistance Sheets
Gainestown3.5 miles7
Manila3.5 miles7
Choctaw Bluff5.5 miles12
Rockville5.6 miles12
Walker Springs5.6 miles8
Barlow Bend6.3 miles7
Jackson8.1 miles8
Suggsville9.2 miles7

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 AlmaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2300488The 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.