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Palm City, Florida

17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1948 and the latest in 1988. It stands in the Stuart census division. It lies in ZIP code area 34990. It stands on Danforth Creek. The Survey maps it on the Palm City quadrangle. 25,883 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 7 feet above sea level.

Palm City within Martin County

Then and now

1948 to 1988

The same ground, surveyed 40 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Palm City, surveyed 1988
Topographic sheet of Palm City, surveyed 1948

Population over time

2 figures

Palm City grew from 23,120 to 25,883 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
201023,120
202025,883+2,763 (+12%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 17 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

217 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 217 fires within 5 miles of Palm City between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,145 acres in total. 75 started naturally. 24 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
Natural75
Misuse of fire by a minor29
Missing data/not specified/undetermined25
Arson/incendiarism24
Equipment and vehicle use15
Recreation and ceremony15
Debris and open burning12
Power generation/transmission/distribution7
Railroad operations and maintenance7
Smoking5
Fireworks2
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
6 September 2011Natural1.0 acresFlorida Forest ServiceST ANDREWS (43)
5 September 1997Debris and open burningunder an acreFlorida Forest Servicenot named
5 September 1995Natural5.0 acresFlorida Forest Servicenot named
4 September 2012Natural1.5 acresFlorida Forest ServiceEVANS RD. (43)
4 September 2001Naturalunder an acreFlorida Forest Servicenot named
3 September 2015Natural2.0 acresFlorida Forest ServiceINDIAN STREET BRIDGE (43)
27 September 2010Debris and open burning2.0 acresFlorida Forest Service(MA) MEADOWS (509)
10 September 1992Natural1.0 acresFlorida Forest Servicenot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Martin County

Storms near this place

20 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Palm City in 20 storm reports between 1995 and 2024: 8 hail, 5 thunderstorm wind, 3 funnel cloud, 2 lightning. The reports record 3 injuries. 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
July 2017LightningPalm City3 hurtA lightning strike associated with a mid day thunderstorm struck a tree in Phipps Park. The strike injured three people who were nearby. Two of the three people were hospitalized. While the extent of their injuries were unknown, all of them were conscious when paramedics arrived.
July 2013LightningPalm City$500,000A home sustained damage estimated at $500,000 due to a fire which started after the home was struck by lightning.
March 1995HailPalm City$5,000Severe thunderstorm winds blew down a carport in Palm City slightly damaging a car. Nickel-size hail was also reported.
April 2000Thunderstorm WindPalm City$3,000Thunderstorm winds blew the roof off a barn.
June 2016Thunderstorm WindPalm City$1,000A picture relayed via Twitter showed several trees snapped in Palm City as an outer rainband associated with Tropical Storm Colin swept across the city and continued offshore.
January 2024Tornado (EF0)Palm City-The tornado touched down to the south and west of I-95 before crossing the interstate around 4:43 PM EST. The system moved to the north-northeast into Palm City, where numerous trees were felled on properties between I-95 and SW Martin Hwy. The |circulation continued to the northeast in Stuart where numerous residents submitted videos of the tornado impacting portions of the Canopy Creek residential subdivision, though little in the way of damage was noted. Additional intermittent reports of downed |trees were reported along the path as it moved across Florida's Turnpike and into Stuart. ||The circulation eventually went on to produce a waterspout over the St. Lucie River that then pushed onshore and into the North River Shores subdivision before lifting and dissipating. The tornado produced minor damage here, including a few fallen trees |near the intersection of NW Pine Lake Dr and NW Fork Rd.
May 2024HailPalm City-Public report of quarter size hail near Palm City.
September 2022FloodPalm City-Heavy rain embedded within the outer bands ahead of Hurricane Ian produced widespread rainfall totals of 4 to 8 inches across Martin County, resulting in sporadic reports of street, urban, and poor drainage flooding. Several roadways were impacted by significant levels of standing water and many retention ponds reached capacity or overflowed. A 34-year-old man was discovered drowned in about 10 inches of water along the side of a road in Stuart where he was last known to be collecting work debris in preparation for the hurricane (indirect).||Emergency management officials indicated minimal damage to residential and business structures.
April 2020Thunderstorm WindPalm City-A member of the public reported a measured peak wind gust of 66 mph, quarter-sized hail, and damage to a few carports at Southwest Hideaway Place in Stuart.
April 2020Thunderstorm WindPalm City-Martin County Emergency Management reported a large tree fell onto a car in Palm City.
May 2016Funnel CloudPalm City-A social media post revealed that a funnel cloud was observed in Palm City. A photo confirmed the funnel cloud.
September 2013Funnel CloudPalm City-A Martin County Sheriffs Deputy reported a funnel cloud near Interstate 95 and Martin Highway.
May 2012HailPalm City-SKYWARN Spotter observed penny-sized hail for 10 minutes near the intersection of Kanner Hwy and US-1 in Stuart.
May 2012HailPalm City-Spotter reported quarter-sized hail which lasted for about 15 minutes southwest of Palm City.
May 2012HailPalm City-SKYWARN Spotter reported quarter-sized hail lasting 10 minutes in Palm City.
May 2012Funnel CloudPalm City-A Saint Lucie County Public Safety Officer observed a funnel cloud about 7 miles south of their location in Port Saint Lucie.
February 2010Thunderstorm WindPalm City-A utility shed was heavily damaged at 4704 SW 72nd Drive in Palm City. Several other reports were received from the are of minor wind damage to structures, as well as small objects blown about and tree branches downed.
May 2009HailPalm City-A mobile ham radio operator reported hail up to quarter size on Bridge Road, one to two miles west of State Road 76.
April 2000HailPalm City-no account filed
May 1999HailPalm City-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Martin 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
Stuart2.2 miles17
Lighthouse Point2.4 miles17
Golden Gate2.7 miles16
Snug Harbor3.4 miles16
North River Shores3.4 miles17
Coral Gardens3.5 miles16
Port Salerno3.8 miles16
Rio3.8 miles16

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 Palm CityAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2443698The 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 288396. 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.