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Opa-locka, Florida

15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1949 and the latest in 1988. It stands in the Miami census division. It lies in ZIP code area 33054. The Survey maps it on the Opa-locka quadrangle. 16,463 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 3 feet above sea level.

Opa-locka within Miami-Dade County

Then and now

1949 to 1988

The same ground, surveyed 39 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Opa-locka, surveyed 1988
Topographic sheet of Opa-locka, surveyed 1949

Compare 1949 against another survey:

On record in Opa-locka

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 12 of 20 shown

Every listing in Miami-Dade County

Population over time

2 figures

Opa-locka grew from 15,219 to 16,463 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
201015,219
202016,463+1,244 (+8%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 15 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

27 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 27 fires within 5 miles of Opa-locka between 1992 and 2018, burning about 238 acres in total. None started naturally. 6 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
Railroad operations and maintenance9
Arson/incendiarism6
Equipment and vehicle use6
Missing data/not specified/undetermined3
Recreation and ceremony2
Misuse of fire by a minor1

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
17 September 1992Railroad operations and maintenance5.0 acresFlorida Forest Servicenot named
31 August 2001Equipment and vehicle use12 acresFlorida Forest Servicenot named
5 May 2003Arson/incendiarism4.0 acresFlorida Forest Servicenot named
24 May 2004Missing data/not specified/undetermined10 acresFlorida Forest ServiceDIE HARD FIRE
28 April 1998Railroad operations and maintenance10 acresFlorida Forest Servicenot named
25 April 1999Equipment and vehicle use20 acresFlorida Forest Servicenot named
16 April 2017Arson/incendiarismunder an acreFlorida Forest ServiceGOLF COURSE ( 06 )
26 March 1995Railroad operations and maintenanceunder an acreFlorida Forest Servicenot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Miami-Dade County

Mines and quarries near this place

5 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Opa-locka: 5 producers. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, 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
Pit No. 6Sand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Dade Pit No. 1Stone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
General Fill Pit No. 1Stone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Lsf Pennsuco AggregatesStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Scl QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer

Every working recorded in Miami-Dade County

Storms near this place

21 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Opa-locka in 21 storm reports between 1996 and 2019: 8 hail, 7 thunderstorm wind, 3 lightning, 2 heavy rain. The reports record 1 injury. 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
August 2006LightningOpa Locka1 hurtA 34-year-old woman was struck by lightning just after stepping out of her car. She was holding an umbrella. The victim was not breathing when paramedics arrived, but she was revived on the trip to the hospital.Strong thunderstorms were observed in the area.
September 2006Heavy RainOpa Locka$100,000Heavy rains from thunderstorms caused the roof of a home in Opa-Locka to cave in. The dining room and a bedroom were destroyed, and extensive water damage was observed.The roof had recently undergone repairs from Hurricane Wilma damage in October 2005.
May 2006Thunderstorm WindOpa Locka$50,000Metal roof sheeting torn off of hangar on the grounds of Opa-Locka Airport. Roofing material was strewn across adjacent parking lot and struck several parked vehicles. Insulation from roof scattered across parking lot. Damage determined to be caused by downburst or straight-line winds estimated at 70-80 mph. Time estimated and based on ASOS observation of 61 mph from KOPF. Damage amount estimated.
August 1998Thunderstorm WindOpa Locka$50,000Power lines down. Thousands of homes lost power. Roof and window damage reported at several homes. Shallow flooding reported throughout Northeast Miami-Dade county.
August 2004Heavy RainOpa Locka$40,000no account filed
September 1996Thunderstorm WindOpa Locka$25,000no account filed
July 2009LightningOpa Locka$1,000Lightning struck a plumbing stack of a house near the intersection of NW 165 Street and NW 30th Avenue, and a neighbor heard the loud thunder and saw smoke coming from the house. The neighbor then called 911. A fire started in the kitchen and the firefighters put out the fire. No one was home at the time.
June 2007LightningOpa Locka$1,000Lightning struck a home in Opa-Locka, creating sparks on the roof and filling the house with smoke. No one was injured.
July 2019HailOpa Locka-A report from social media of dime size hail in Miami Gardens.
August 2019Funnel CloudOpa Locka-Picture received via social media of a funnel cloud sighted from the Palmetto Expressway near NW 27 avenue in Miami Gardens.
February 2014HailOpa Locka-A report relayed through Social Media reported dime sized hail in Miami Gardens.
February 2014HailOpa Locka-A report relayed through Social Media reported hail at least the size of quarters in Carol City.
May 2012Thunderstorm WindOpa Locka-A strong thunderstorm produced a wind gust of 59 knots...or 68 mph...measured by a mesonet site at Sun Life Stadium.
September 2012HailOpa Locka-A member of the public reported nickel-sized hail and a downed Ficus tree near the Palmetto Expressway/State Route 826 and LeJuene/Northwest 42nd Avenue.
May 2005HailOpa Locka-The public reported golf ball-size hail.
July 2005HailOpa Locka-Nickel-size hail fell for five minutes.
August 2005HailOpa Locka-A SKYWARN spotter saw penny-size hail.
July 1997Thunderstorm WindOpa Locka-recorded at kopf.
May 2007HailOpa Locka-no account filed
March 1998Thunderstorm WindOpa Locka-no account filed
September 1996Thunderstorm WindOpa Locka-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Miami-Dade 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
Mitchell Lake Estates1.2 miles15
Bunche Park1.4 miles15
Westview1.5 miles15
Biscayne Gardens2.3 miles15
Carol City2.7 miles15
Golden Glades2.7 miles15
Miami Gardens2.8 miles15
Scott Lake2.9 miles15

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 Opa-lockaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q785565The 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 308425. 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.