Chunchula, Alabama
21 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1941 and the latest in 1994. It stands in the Mobile census division. It lies in ZIP code area 36521. It stands on Log Creek. The Survey maps it on the Chunchula quadrangle. 195 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 121 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresChunchula fell from 210 to 195 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 210 | |
| 2020 | 195 | -15 (-7%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
11 surveys from 21 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.
- 1941 USGS Creola quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1943 USGS Creola quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1953 USGS Mobile quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Mobile quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1960 USGS Mobile quadrangle1:250000
- 1963 USGS Mobile quadrangle1:250000
- 1965 USGS Mobile quadrangle1:250000
- 1982 USGS Chunchula quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1984 USGS Mobile quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1984 USGS Mobile quadrangle1:100000
- 1994 USGS Mobile quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
404 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 404 fires within 5 miles of Chunchula between 1994 and 2020, burning about 5,576 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 207 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 |
|---|---|
| Arson/incendiarism | 207 |
| Debris and open burning | 112 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 67 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 8 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 5 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 2 |
| Smoking | 1 |
| Fireworks | 1 |
| Natural | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 30 September 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 3.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 3 September 1995 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 3 September 1995 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 23 September 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.5 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20180923-7 |
| 22 September 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 15 September 2010 | Debris and open burning | 40 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 14 September 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 60 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Chunchula: 1 past producer, 1 prospect. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay, Clay. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama Asphalt Paving Co., Inc Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay | Past Producer | ||
| Mob 14 Clay Prospect | Clay | Prospect |
Storms near this place
6 since 2000Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Chunchula in 6 storm reports between 2000 and 2021: 3 thunderstorm wind, 2 flash flood, 1 tornado. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2005 | Tornado (F0) | Chunchula | $20,000 | A tornado developed along the outer fringes of Tropical Storm Cindy. The tornado touched down just east of Chunchula near Celeste . The tornado blew down several trees and power lines. |
| August 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chunchula | $5,000 | Winds estimated at 60 mph downed trees and power lines. |
| September 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chunchula | $5,000 | Numerous trees were blown down by high thunderstorm winds along Highway 45. |
| April 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chunchula | - | Tress down and blocking the roadway near the intersection of Chunchula Georgetown Road and US Highway 45. |
| June 2013 | Flash Flood | Chunchula | - | Heavy rain caused flooding of ditches and parking lots. |
| May 2013 | Flash Flood | Chunchula | - | Stationary thunderstorms produced 5 to 15 inches of rain which caused widespread flooded across western Mobile County caused water to flow over Grand Bay-Wilmer Road...about 1/2 mile north of the intersection with Fort Lake Road. Water was also flowing also Newman Road. Roads and parking lots were flooded in Grand Bay. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smithtown | 4.2 miles | 27 | |
| Georgetown | 4.4 miles | 20 | |
| Celeste | 4.5 miles | 22 | |
| Oak Grove | 4.6 miles | 27 | |
| Kali-Oka Springs | 5.3 miles | 27 | |
| Turnerville | 5.4 miles | 21 | |
| Gulfcrest | 5.4 miles | 21 | |
| Mauvilla | 5.9 miles | 27 |
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 Chunchula | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1273444 | 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 116112. 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.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
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.










