BlockBefore

Vesta, Arkansas

25 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1890 and the latest in 1987. It stands in Weaver Township. It lies in ZIP code area 72933. The Survey maps it on the Mulberry quadrangle.

Vesta within Franklin County

Topographic sheets covering this place

12 surveys from 25 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 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 47 fires within 5 miles of Vesta between 1997 and 2020, burning about 1,926 acres in total. None started naturally. 8 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined16
Debris and open burning14
Arson/incendiarism8
Equipment and vehicle use6
Smoking3

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 2001Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
3 September 2001Smoking75 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
22 September 2000Arson/incendiarism3.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
21 September 2010Equipment and vehicle use22 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
21 September 2000Missing data/not specified/undetermined5.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
29 August 1998Equipment and vehicle use4.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
28 August 1999Smoking8.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
14 August 2012Debris and open burning1.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Franklin County

Storms near this place

12 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Vesta in 12 storm reports between 1998 and 2025: 6 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail, 2 tornado, 1 flash 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
April 2014Tornado (EF1)Vesta$200,000This tornado damaged the roofs of a number of homes, destroyed numerous barns and outbuildings, and snapped or uprooted numerous trees. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in the tornado was 95 to 105 mph.
April 2018Tornado (EF1)Vesta$20,000The is the second segment of a two segment tornado. In Franklin County, this tornado damaged a mobile home, uprooted trees, and snapped large tree limbs and power poles. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in this segment of the tornado was 85 to 95 mph.
November 1998Thunderstorm WindVesta$18,000There were quite a few reports of damage from the greater Vesta area. Specific reports follow:- Just northwest of Vesta, two windows were blown out of a house. A shed was blown over. A large oak tree was uprooted, and several other trees were heavily damaged. A patio table was blown away, never to be seen again. - On Mill Creek Mountain, a home was damaged when a tree was uprooted and blown on top of a house. Numerous other large trees were blown over, including a walnut tree with an eleven-foot circumfrence. A shed was destroyed. Sheet iron was scattered about.- On Hickory Ridge (located one mile south of Vesta), a window was blown out of a residence, and two sheds were destroyed on Hickory Ridge. Numerous trees were blown over, one of which fell onto a truck, breaking the windshield and messing up the hood.
August 2011Thunderstorm WindVesta$10,000Many large trees were blown down by strong thunderstorm winds. Several travel trailers were overturned at River Ridge Park.
April 2025Thunderstorm WindVesta$2,000Strong thunderstorm wind blew down trees and power lines.
April 2006Thunderstorm WindVesta$1,000Thunderstorm winds estimated at 70 miles an hour blew down trees and power lines.
May 2019Thunderstorm WindVesta-Strong thunderstorm wind blew down large trees.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindVesta-Strong thunderstorm wind blew down trees west of Cecil.
January 2007Flash FloodVesta-Several roads were flooded and closed around town.
March 2018HailVesta-no account filed
March 2006HailVesta-no account filed
May 2000HailVesta-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Franklin 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
Anice (historical)3.6 miles25
Dahoma (historical)3.8 miles19
Fealey (historical)4.7 miles19
Sub Rosa (historical)5.1 miles19
Donald (historical)5.6 miles19
Charleston5.7 miles22
Peter Pender5.8 miles19
Thessing (historical)6.0 miles22

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 VestaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q48861918The 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 55901. 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.