Watalula, Arkansas
14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1879 and the latest in 1992. It stands in Watalula Township. It lies in ZIP code area 72949. The Survey maps it on the Watalula quadrangle.
Topographic sheets covering this place
10 surveys from 14 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.
- 1879 USGS Cravens quadrangle1:62500
- 1887 USGS Watalula quadrangle1:62500
- 1939 USGS Watalula quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1956 USGS Russellville quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1964 USGS Russellville quadrangle1:250000
- 1973 USGS Watalula quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1977 USGS Russellville quadrangle1:250000
- 1983 USGS Fly Gap Mountain quadrangle1:100000
- 1984 USGS Russellville quadrangle1:250000
- 1992 USGS Russellville quadrangle1:250000
Fires near this place
51 since 1995Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 51 fires within 5 miles of Watalula between 1995 and 2020, burning about 354 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 10 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/undetermined | 17 |
| Debris and open burning | 16 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 10 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 4 |
| Natural | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
| Smoking | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 September 2001 | Debris and open burning | 6.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 7 September 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Ozark-St. Francis National Forests | BIG EDDY |
| 20 September 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 16 September 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 9.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 10 September 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 28 August 2010 | Debris and open burning | 7.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 4 July 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Ozark-St. Francis National Forests | CRIPPLE BRANCH |
| 30 July 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Arkansas 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 Watalula: 2 producers. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unk | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| White Oak Creek Pit & Plant | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
16 since 2006Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Watalula in 16 storm reports between 2006 and 2024: 7 hail, 5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2009 | Lightning | Watalula | $50,000 | Lightning struck a house causing a fire that resulted in considerable damage. |
| June 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Watalula | $50,000 | Thunderstorm winds damaged chicken houses. Report relayed by NSSL through the SHAVE project. |
| April 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Watalula | $25,000 | Strong thunderstorm wind blew down several large trees, and heavily damaged a barn. |
| August 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Watalula | - | Strong thunderstorm wind blew down numerous trees. |
| October 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Watalula | - | Strong thunderstorm wind snapped large tree limbs. |
| August 2019 | Flash Flood | Watalula | - | Numerous roads were flooded north of Ozark, including portions of Highway 23 and nearby county roads. |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Watalula | - | Strong thunderstorm wind blew down trees. |
| May 2015 | Flash Flood | Watalula | - | Roads were flooded north of Ozark and vehicles were stranded, resulting in swift water rescues. |
| May 2008 | Tornado (EF0) | Watalula | - | A brief tornado developed east of town producing minor damage to trees. |
| October 2022 | Hail | Watalula | - | no account filed |
| October 2022 | Hail | Watalula | - | no account filed |
| October 2022 | Hail | Watalula | - | no account filed |
| October 2022 | Hail | Watalula | - | no account filed |
| May 2010 | Hail | Watalula | - | no account filed |
| March 2008 | Hail | Watalula | - | no account filed |
| May 2006 | Hail | Watalula | - | no account filed |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Felkner Town | 2.4 miles | 14 | |
| White Oak | 2.5 miles | 14 | |
| Mountain Grove | 2.9 miles | 14 | |
| Jethro | 4.0 miles | 14 | |
| Sutherland Crossroads | 4.0 miles | 14 | |
| Paradise | 4.1 miles | 15 | |
| Barnes | 4.3 miles | 15 | |
| Cravens | 5.0 miles | 14 |
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.
| Wikidata item Q122572074 | 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 74016. 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.









