BlockBefore

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.

Watalula within Franklin County

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 surveys from 14 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

51 since 1995

Regional 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/undetermined17
Debris and open burning16
Arson/incendiarism10
Equipment and vehicle use4
Natural2
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
Smoking1

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
7 September 2001Debris and open burning6.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
7 September 1998Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresOzark-St. Francis National ForestsBIG EDDY
20 September 2000Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
16 September 2000Missing data/not specified/undetermined9.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
10 September 2013Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
28 August 2010Debris and open burning7.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
4 July 2012Arson/incendiarismunder an acreOzark-St. Francis National ForestsCRIPPLE BRANCH
30 July 2011Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Franklin County

Mines and quarries near this place

2 within 5 miles

Regional 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
UnkSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
White Oak Creek Pit & PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Franklin County

Storms near this place

16 since 2006

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 2009LightningWatalula$50,000Lightning struck a house causing a fire that resulted in considerable damage.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindWatalula$50,000Thunderstorm winds damaged chicken houses. Report relayed by NSSL through the SHAVE project.
April 2020Thunderstorm WindWatalula$25,000Strong thunderstorm wind blew down several large trees, and heavily damaged a barn.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindWatalula-Strong thunderstorm wind blew down numerous trees.
October 2022Thunderstorm WindWatalula-Strong thunderstorm wind snapped large tree limbs.
August 2019Flash FloodWatalula-Numerous roads were flooded north of Ozark, including portions of Highway 23 and nearby county roads.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindWatalula-Strong thunderstorm wind blew down trees.
May 2015Flash FloodWatalula-Roads were flooded north of Ozark and vehicles were stranded, resulting in swift water rescues.
May 2008Tornado (EF0)Watalula-A brief tornado developed east of town producing minor damage to trees.
October 2022HailWatalula-no account filed
October 2022HailWatalula-no account filed
October 2022HailWatalula-no account filed
October 2022HailWatalula-no account filed
May 2010HailWatalula-no account filed
March 2008HailWatalula-no account filed
May 2006HailWatalula-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
Felkner Town2.4 miles14
White Oak2.5 miles14
Mountain Grove2.9 miles14
Jethro4.0 miles14
Sutherland Crossroads4.0 miles14
Paradise4.1 miles15
Barnes4.3 miles15
Cravens5.0 miles14

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 Q122572074The 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.