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Punta Gorda, Florida

13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1956 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Punta Gorda census division. It lies in ZIP code area 33950. The Survey maps it on the Punta Gorda quadrangle. 19,471 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 6,099 feet above sea level.

Punta Gorda within Charlotte County

Then and now

1956 to 1981

The same ground, surveyed 25 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Punta Gorda, surveyed 1981
Topographic sheet of Punta Gorda, surveyed 1956

On record in Punta Gorda

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 10 records

Population over time

2 figures

Punta Gorda grew from 16,641 to 19,471 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
201016,641
202019,471+2,830 (+17%)

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

282 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 282 fires within 5 miles of Punta Gorda between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,616 acres in total. 61 started naturally. 15 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
Natural61
Missing data/not specified/undetermined45
Equipment and vehicle use36
Debris and open burning35
Railroad operations and maintenance32
Misuse of fire by a minor32
Recreation and ceremony16
Arson/incendiarism15
Smoking4
Power generation/transmission/distribution4
Fireworks2

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
8 September 1998Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresFlorida Forest Servicenot named
6 September 1996Naturalunder an acreFlorida Forest Servicenot named
2 September 2005Naturalunder an acreFlorida Forest Service08-FARNHAM FIRE-0419
18 September 1996Railroad operations and maintenanceunder an acreFlorida Forest Servicenot named
11 September 1998Misuse of fire by a minor4.0 acresFlorida Forest Servicenot named
1 September 2020Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreFlorida Forest ServicePHEASANT BLVD (08)
7 August 2002Arson/incendiarismunder an acreFlorida Forest Servicenot named
7 August 1993Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresFlorida Forest Servicenot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Charlotte County

Mines and quarries near this place

6 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Punta Gorda: 6 producers. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Calcium, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand, Limestone, General. 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
Apac-Florida - Viercocken PitSandProducer
Sunland Paving Co. - Sunland Pelican PitLimestone, GeneralProducerLimestone
Hendrickson Seashell PitStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Pit 31CalciumProducer
Rigby Airport PitCalciumProducer
Route 31 PitStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer

Every working recorded in Charlotte County

Storms near this place

49 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Punta Gorda in 49 storm reports between 1995 and 2013: 13 thunderstorm wind, 9 hail, 7 tornado, 5 lightning. The reports record 4 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
September 1996LightningPunta Gorda3 hurtno account filed
July 1997LightningPunta Gorda1 hurtA 53 year old male and his dog were struck by a sideflash of lightning while walking within six feet of a wood power pole. The lightning first struck the power pole while the sideflash knocked the man and his dog to the ground. No injuries were reported to the dog.
June 2003Flash FloodPunta Gorda$3,300,000Heavy rain flooded 40 homes with 6-12 inches of water in the residential areas of Punta Gorda. Also, 10,000 feet of a sea wall worth $2 million collapsed in Punta Gorda Isles and roads erosion closed two areas along County Road 74 near Westminster Road and Grove Blvd. Rainfall totals over the past three days totalled 9.49 inches in Point Lonesome and 8.35 inches 8 miles southeast of Punta Gorda.
July 1998LightningPunta Gorda$110,000Lightning struck and ignited a home on the 2900 block of Valolla Street in Punta Gorda.
September 2000Flash FloodPunta Gorda$50,000no account filed
September 1998Thunderstorm WindPunta Gorda$25,000A 250 foot communications antenna was toppled by thunderstorm winds near County Road 765 near the community of Burnt Store.
August 2002LightningPunta Gorda$20,000Lightning struck the Punta Gorda Herald building damaging computers and the telephone system.
September 2001Tornado (F0)Punta Gorda$20,000A weak F0 tornado sporadically touched down near the intersection of State Road 765 and 768, south southeast of Punta Gorda. The tornado continued north where it sporadically touched down and toppled trees, power lines and a few sheds before it crossed into DeSoto county, six miles east northeast of Murdock.
December 1996Thunderstorm WindPunta Gorda$20,000no account filed
September 2001Tornado (F0)Punta Gorda$15,000A weak F0 tornado sporadically touched down along a narrow path, west of State Road 765, near the Lee - Charlotte county line in rural southwest Charlotte county, to one mile west southwest of Punta Gorda. The weak tornado downed a few large trees, several large branches, rolled a few small sheds and toppled a few power lines before it lifted and dissipated.
December 1996Tornado (F0)Punta Gorda$15,000no account filed
July 2001Thunderstorm WindPunta Gorda$10,000Thunderstorm winds caused minor damage to a few homes and downed several large branches on Riverside Drive in the River Forrest mobile home park in Punta Gorda.
August 2000Thunderstorm WindPunta Gorda$10,000The Charlotte County Sheriffs Department reported that thunderstorm winds downed several large trees, branches and power lines near the intersection of U.S. Highway 17 and Cleveland Drive in Punta Gorda.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindPunta Gorda$10,000Thunderstorm winds caused minor roof damage to four aged mobile homes and downed several tree limbs in Punta Gorda.
July 1998FloodPunta Gorda$10,000Two to four inches of heavy rain fell in less than two hours and caused localized flooding of low lying areas between Interstate 75 and U.S. Highway 41 from Punta Gorda to Port Charlotte. A few vehicles and homes incurred water damage in low lying areas of Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte.
April 1997Thunderstorm WindPunta Gorda$10,000Thunderstorm winds tore off the roof of a mobile home on Swaying Palm Drive in Punta Gorda.
June 1997Thunderstorm WindPunta Gorda$6,000Thunderstorm winds rolled and demolished a 20-by-12 foot shed approximately 100 yards, downed a fence and uprooted a few small trees.
June 2002Tornado (F0)Punta Gorda$5,000Newspaper reported a small tornado at the Charlotte County Speedway, just south of the airport. A tower, fence, billboards, and lightning system were all marred.
August 1998FloodPunta Gorda$5,000Heavy rainfall caused localized street flooding in low lying and areas of poor drainage in Cape Coral.
May 1997Thunderstorm WindPunta Gorda$5,000Thunderstorm winds downed a few trees and damaged a roof in Punta Gorda
July 1997Tornado (F0)Punta Gorda$4,000A short-lived tornado uprooted several trees, damaged a glass business sign, shattered windows in a few businesses and toppled a few billboards near the intersection of U.S. Highway 41 and Sibley Road in Charlotte Harbor.
June 2003Thunderstorm WindPunta Gorda$3,000Thunderstorm winds damaged a pool cage and part of a roof.
June 2000LightningPunta Gorda$2,000Charlotte County Emergency Management reported that lightning caused damage to the air conditioning compressor, kitchen microwave, telephone and garage door opener of home that was struck on the 2400 hundred block of Chapman Boulevard near U.S. Highway 41 and Pompano in Punta Gorda.
August 1995Thunderstorm WindPunta Gorda$2,000Thunderstorm winds downed several power lines in Punta Gorda.
April 1999Dust DevilPunta Gorda$1,000A dust devil caused minor roof shingle damage to a home on Taylor Road near U.S. Highway 41 in Punta Gorda.
September 1998Tornado (F0)Punta Gorda$1,000A tornado, associated with an outer band of Hurricane Georges, sporadically touched down and toppled a few large trees along its path before it lifted and dissipated in northern Charlotte county.
November 1997Thunderstorm WindPunta Gorda$1,000Thunderstorm winds damaged pool cages and television antennas of three homes near North Bend Road and Peace Street.
September 2013Heavy RainPunta Gorda-Charlotte County Emergency Management reported considerable water across numerous roads and highways in Punta Gorda, and throughout the rest of Charlotte County.
August 2008Heavy RainPunta Gorda-A Southwest Florida Water Management District gauge recorded 7.27 inches of rain.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindPunta Gorda-The public estimated a wind gust of 60 MPH in Punta Gorda.
May 2007HailPunta Gorda-Penny size hail was reported by the public in the Deep Creek subdivision.
July 2007HailPunta Gorda-Marble to penny size hail was reported on North River Drive which is about 12 miles east of Highway 31 and just north of the Charlotte and Lee county line.
July 2007HailPunta Gorda-Law enforcement reported quarter size hail at the intersection of Highway 74 and Highway 31.
July 2005Heavy RainPunta Gorda-The Punta Gorda airport recorded 4.39 inches of rain as a result of Hurricane Dennis. There were 3 indirect fatalities around 11 PM EDT Sunday the 10th as a Cape Coral family hydroplaned into a deep ditch filled with water near the intersection of Bermont Road and Ronco Road.
July 2005Tornado (F0)Punta Gorda-An immediate storm survey conducted by the Punta Gorda Police Department noted a slow, general south movement of the waterspout, briefly touching land once, then making a final landfall before dissipating. The spout became a tornado as it moved onshore where it damaged a few trees and quickly diminished.
October 2005Heavy RainPunta Gorda-A report of 7.57" of rain was received 8 miles northeast of Punta Gorda. Several other reports between 4 to 5 inches were also received.
September 2002Funnel CloudPunta Gorda-Several eyewitnesses viewed the funnel cloud to the west
August 2001HailPunta Gorda-Charlotte county emergency management reported golf ball sized hail along Interstate 75 near Airport Road in Punta Gorda.
August 2000WaterspoutPunta Gorda-A Skywarn Spotter and mariners reported that waterspout drifted south across Charlotte Harbor to near Bokeelia in Lee county.
May 1999HailPunta Gorda-Nickel sized hail was reported by the public through the Charlotte County Sheriffs Office.
April 1999WildfirePunta Gorda-A wildfire, ignited by a passing train, burned 68 acres of brush along Oil Well Road between Interstate 75 and U.S. Highway 41 in southern Charlotte county. The wildfire forced closure of Interstate 75 for over two hours near the Oil Well Road overpass.
April 1999WildfirePunta Gorda-A wildfire consumed nearly 100 acres of woods and brush along and near Carmalita Street and Education Avenue in Punta Gorda.
August 1995HailPunta Gorda-Golf ball-size hail fell was reported in Punta Gorda.
October 2006Thunderstorm WindPunta Gorda-no account filed
June 2004HailPunta Gorda-no account filed
March 2003HailPunta Gorda-no account filed
November 2002Flash FloodPunta Gorda-no account filed
June 2002HailPunta Gorda-no account filed
September 1996WaterspoutPunta Gorda-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Charlotte 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
Fishermens Village0.9 miles13
Charlotte Park1.4 miles13
Solana1.6 miles13
Aqui Esta1.6 miles13
Punta Gorda Isles1.9 miles13
Charlotte Harbor2.3 miles13
Tee and Green Estates2.5 miles13
Harbor View2.7 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 Punta GordaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q953543The 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 289380. 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.