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Lehigh Acres, Florida

13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1956 and the latest in 1987. It stands in the Lehigh Acres census division. It lies in ZIP code area 33972. The Survey maps it on the Alva quadrangle. 114,287 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 20 feet above sea level.

Lehigh Acres within Lee County

Then and now

1956 to 1987

The same ground, surveyed 31 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Lehigh Acres, surveyed 1987
Topographic sheet of Lehigh Acres, surveyed 1956

Population over time

2 figures

Lehigh Acres grew from 86,784 to 114,287 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
201086,784
2020114,287+27,503 (+32%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 13 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

851 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 851 fires within 5 miles of Lehigh Acres between 1992 and 2020, burning about 7,636 acres in total. 173 started naturally. 82 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
Natural173
Missing data/not specified/undetermined165
Railroad operations and maintenance144
Equipment and vehicle use101
Arson/incendiarism82
Misuse of fire by a minor67
Debris and open burning39
Power generation/transmission/distribution25
Recreation and ceremony22
Fireworks18
Smoking14
Other causes1

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 2014Naturalunder an acreFlorida Forest ServiceDIXIE (36)
5 September 2002Natural5.0 acresFlorida Forest Servicenot named
4 September 2000Natural1.5 acresFlorida Forest Servicenot named
27 September 1996Railroad operations and maintenanceunder an acreFlorida Forest Servicenot named
24 September 1996Railroad operations and maintenanceunder an acreFlorida Forest Servicenot named
20 September 1996Naturalunder an acreFlorida Forest Servicenot named
2 September 2012Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.5 acresFlorida Forest ServiceLABOR DAY (36)
19 September 2017Power generation/transmission/distribution2.5 acresFlorida Forest Service2017-17-0306

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Lee County

Storms near this place

38 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Lehigh Acres in 38 storm reports between 1994 and 2022: 17 hail, 8 thunderstorm wind, 4 lightning, 3 wildfire. The reports record 1 death. 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
September 2006LightningLehigh Acres1 killedLightning struck a tree and killed a 13-year-old boy who was standing nearby. The boy was among a group of kids playing at a popular swimming hole at Ocean Park Drive. It was not raining at the time of the strike.
February 2000WildfireLehigh Acres$750,000no account filed
October 2000Flash FloodLehigh Acres$200,000Heavy rainfall of eight to ten inches in less than six hours caused flooding of roadways and low-lying areas from Lehigh Acres southwest to Ft. Myers Beach in Lee county. A few homes in low-lying areas incurred water damage to the lowest levels of their homes in Lehigh Acres, San Carlos and Ft. Myers Beach. Also, several vehicles incurred water damage at low-lying intersections along U.S. Highway 41 in San Carlos Park and along State Road 82 near Lehigh Acres.
July 2002LightningLehigh Acres$90,000Lightning induced fire destroyed a stilt wood frame house.
June 2010LightningLehigh Acres$60,000Lightning struck an 84-year-old Cracker-style home in Lehigh Acres and consumed the entire structure. The historic home, which was uninhabited, was one of the first homes built in the city. The time is estimated based on radar.
January 2016Thunderstorm WindLehigh Acres$40,000An NWS and Lee County Emergency Management storm survey found straight-line wind damage on Sheldon Avenue. A few large trees were uprooted, one home had some shingles blown off and a metal shed was blown over.
August 2017Thunderstorm WindLehigh Acres$15,000Lee County Emergency Management relayed a call from a resident that a tree had fallen on a roof in Lehigh Acres. The Sheriff's Department also reported power lines down in the same area.
August 1995Thunderstorm WindLehigh Acres$4,000Several trees, power lines, and a pool enclosure were blown down by thunderstorm winds.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindLehigh Acres$3,000A trained spotter reported several trees downed around their neighborhood near Lehigh Acres.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindLehigh Acres$2,000Broadcast media reported large tree toppled in Lehigh Acres.
July 1997Thunderstorm WindLehigh Acres$2,000Thunderstorm winds of up to 50 mph tipped over or uprooted 40 to 50 potted small to medium sized trees at a nursery in Lehigh Acres.
May 1999LightningLehigh Acres$1,000Lightning struck and burned a hole in the roof of a home in Lehigh Acres. In Bonita Springs, lightning ignited and burned 500 acres of brush and scrub trees.
April 2022HailLehigh Acres-Broadcast media relayed picture from public of 1-inch hail near Lehigh Acres.
July 2020Funnel CloudLehigh Acres-Broadcast Media relayed reports and photos from viewer of funnel cloud in south Lehigh Acres. Exact location estimated by radar.
March 2017HailLehigh Acres-Broadcast media received a viewer video of penny sized hail in Lehigh Acres.
May 2015HailLehigh Acres-A trained spotted reported half-dollar size hail in Lehigh Acres.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindLehigh Acres-The Lehigh Acres Middle School weather station measured a wind gust of 61 mph.
July 2008Heavy RainLehigh Acres-Law enforcement reported street flooding along Milwaukee Boulevard near Grant Boulevard and Bell Boulevard.
August 2008Heavy RainLehigh Acres-The observer reported 12.74 inches of rain. Numerous reports of 6-11 inches of rain were reported over the eastern two-thirds of the county.
July 2007HailLehigh Acres-Quarter size hail was reported by the public.
August 2005HailLehigh Acres-A trained spotter reported nickel size hail at his home in Lehigh Acres.
July 2002Tornado (F0)Lehigh Acres-Fire department reported tornado damage to huge trees and picnic tables in park.
June 2001HailLehigh Acres-Golfball to half dollar sized hail was reported by the public in Lehigh Acres through WBBH-TV (NBC) of Ft. Myers.
May 1999HailLehigh Acres-Dime sized hail was reported by a Skywarn Spotter in Lehigh Acres.
March 1999WildfireLehigh Acres-A wildfire burned nearly 200 acres of brush along Richmond Avenue and 15th Street in Lehigh Acres.
May 1999HailLehigh Acres-Quarter sized hail that covered the ground white was reported by a Skywarn Spotter in Lehigh Acres.
May 1999HailLehigh Acres-Dime sized hail was reported by the public through Cape Coral WZVN-TV.
May 1999HailLehigh Acres-Quarter sized hail was reported near the intersection of Lee Boulevard and Homestead in Lehigh Acres by a Skywarn Spotter.
April 1999WildfireLehigh Acres-A wildfire ignited and burned between 110 and 120 acres of scrub trees and brush along Gunnery Road between State Road 82 (Immokalee Road) and Leonard Boulevard in Lehigh Acres.
July 1999HailLehigh Acres-Golfball sized hail was reported in Lehigh Acres by the broadcast media.
June 1997Thunderstorm WindLehigh Acres-Thunderstorm winds of 45 mph downed a few tree limbs in Lehigh Acres.
June 1994HailLehigh Acres-Quarter-size hail reported at Lehigh Acres.
June 2004HailLehigh Acres-no account filed
July 2002Funnel CloudLehigh Acres-no account filed
July 1997HailLehigh Acres-no account filed
July 1997HailLehigh Acres-no account filed
June 1996HailLehigh Acres-no account filed
May 1995HailLehigh Acres-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Lee 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
Charleston Park6.0 miles13
Alva6.3 miles13
Buckingham6.6 miles13
Gateway7.4 miles14
Verandah7.7 miles13
Olga8.0 miles13
Telegraph Estates8.1 miles13
Fort Myers Shores8.6 miles13

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 Lehigh AcresAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q960225The 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 285447. 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.