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Speake, Alabama

17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1935 and the latest in 2000. It stands in the Speake-Oakville census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35619. It stands on Stover Branch. The Survey maps it on the Oakville quadrangle. It stands 650 feet above sea level.

Speake within Lawrence County

Topographic sheets covering this place

11 surveys from 17 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

47 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 47 fires within 5 miles of Speake between 1994 and 2016, burning about 1,841 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 17 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/incendiarism17
Debris and open burning17
Missing data/not specified/undetermined9
Recreation and ceremony2
Equipment and vehicle use1
Natural1

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
5 September 2000Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
4 September 1999Arson/incendiarism3.0 acresNational Forests in AlabamaROBINSON BOTTOM
17 September 2016Arson/incendiarism1.5 acresAlabama Forestry Commission20160917-1
17 September 2016Recreation and ceremony70 acresNational Forests in AlabamaFLAT MOUNTAIN
11 September 2002Arson/incendiarism4.0 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
12 August 2000Debris and open burning40 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named
12 August 1999Arson/incendiarism90 acresNational Forests in AlabamaMULL MOUNTAIN
12 August 1999Natural76 acresAlabama Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Lawrence County

Storms near this place

16 since 2003

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Speake in 16 storm reports between 2003 and 2023: 9 thunderstorm wind, 2 flash flood, 2 tornado, 2 hail. 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
April 2006Tornado (F1)Speake$25,000A tornado touched down and demolished a large barn and uprooted several trees near highway 157 in a continuous path toward the Morgan county line.
April 2006HailSpeake$15,000Golf ball size hail was reported. A few vehicles were slightly damaged by the large hail.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindSpeake$10,000A metal roof was peeled back several feet off of a barn. Doors were also blown out. Gates were blown down.
February 2011Thunderstorm WindSpeake$6,000Trees were blown down on CR 203.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindSpeake$2,000A tree was blown down on highway 157 south of Moulton.
September 2023Thunderstorm WindSpeake$500A tree was knocked down.
August 2016Thunderstorm WindSpeake$500Two trees were knocked down in the Oakville district near Speake.
March 2023Tornado (EF0)Speake-The tornado likely first touched down between County Road 203 and Highway 157 in far eastern Lawrence County. Minor roof damage to chicken houses was noted at this location before the tornado crossed the highway. Sporadic tree damage was observed near the Highway 36 and CR 200 intersection. Peak wind speeds of 74 mph were estimated. The tornado then moved into Morgan County toward Danville.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindSpeake-Trees were knocked down in the Speake community near CR 200.
April 2011HailSpeake-Nickel sized hail was reported.
November 2010Flash FloodSpeake-Flash flooding was reported on County Road 203 in Speake.
April 2009FloodSpeake-Prolonged heavy rainfall caused water to flood CR 203 and 208.
April 2005Flash FloodSpeake-Several inches of water over the intersection of County Road 203 and County Road 208 resulted in a road closure.
August 2005Thunderstorm WindSpeake-A tree and a few power lines were blown down.
July 2004Thunderstorm WindSpeake-A few power lines were blown down due to thunderstorm winds.
May 2003Thunderstorm WindSpeake-numerous trees and power lines down.

Every storm recorded in Lawrence 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
Jesseton0.8 miles17
Oakville2.1 miles17
Aldridge Grove3.9 miles17
Five Points4.1 miles17
Fairfield4.2 miles17
Pinhook4.5 miles18
Kitchens Mill5.1 miles17
Wren6.8 miles18

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 SpeakeAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q7574224The 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 160652. 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.