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Palos, Alabama

24 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1893 and the latest in 1984. It stands in the West Jefferson census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35130. It stands on Falls Creek. The Survey maps it on the Dora quadrangle.

Palos within Jefferson County

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 24 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

330 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 330 fires within 5 miles of Palos between 1994 and 2019, burning about 5,760 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 139 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/incendiarism139
Debris and open burning122
Missing data/not specified/undetermined41
Recreation and ceremony9
Railroad operations and maintenance6
Equipment and vehicle use5
Natural3
Misuse of fire by a minor3
Power generation/transmission/distribution2

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
9 September 2016Arson/incendiarism2.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20160909-12
8 September 1999Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
8 September 1998Equipment and vehicle use3.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
7 September 1997Arson/incendiarism1.5 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
5 September 1998Arson/incendiarism21 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
5 September 1998Missing data/not specified/undetermined5.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
4 September 1998Arson/incendiarism20 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
4 September 1995Debris and open burning3.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Jefferson County

Mines and quarries near this place

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Palos: 2 occurrences, 1 prospect. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Aluminum, 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Jef 2 Clay ProspectClayProspect
Waste Pond - Bessie MineAluminumOccurrenceIllite, Kaolinite
Waste Pond - Flat Top MineAluminumOccurrenceIllite, Kaolinite

Every working recorded in Jefferson County

Storms near this place

8 since 2011

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Palos in 8 storm reports between 2011 and 2025: 5 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 1 flood. 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
February 2011Thunderstorm WindPalos$2,000Several trees were blown down on Flat Top Road.
February 2025Thunderstorm WindPalos-Several trees were downed on Palos Circle.
March 2024FloodPalos-Up to 4 inches of rainfall across northern Jefferson County during the morning led to several flooded roadways, especially in the Morris, Warrior, and West Jefferson areas. Self Creek Rd along Self Creek remained impassable into the afternoon.
September 2022Thunderstorm WindPalos-Several trees uprooted along Flat Top Road and Honeysuckle Road.
January 2021HailPalos-Dime to nickel size hail reported near the Miller Steam Plant.
April 2020Thunderstorm WindPalos-Numerous trees uprooted and snapped along leading edge of a bow echo.
July 2015Thunderstorm WindPalos-Several trees uprooted in the town of West Jefferson.
March 2015HailPalos-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Jefferson 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
Bessie0.7 miles24
Bessie Junction0.7 miles24
Riverside Estates0.9 miles24
Snowtown1.3 miles24
West Jefferson1.3 miles24
Porter1.6 miles22
Media1.6 miles24
Flat Top1.8 miles24

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 156853. 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.