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Gale, Illinois

22 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1934 and the latest in 1996. It stands in McClure precinct. It lies in ZIP code area 62990. It stands on Miller Creek. The Survey maps it on the Thebes quadrangle. It stands 338 feet above sea level.

Gale within Alexander County

Topographic sheets covering this place

14 surveys from 22 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

30 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 30 fires within 5 miles of Gale between 1997 and 2020, burning about 279 acres in total. None started naturally. 3 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
Debris and open burning12
Missing data/not specified/undetermined9
Power generation/transmission/distribution3
Arson/incendiarism3
Recreation and ceremony2
Railroad operations and maintenance1

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 2006Debris and open burning2.5 acresShawnee National ForestMUD PUPPY
9 August 2018Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreShawnee National ForestBEAN RIDGE
29 August 2017Debris and open burningunder an acreShawnee National ForestSEXTON CREEK
8 May 2018Arson/incendiarism90 acresShawnee National ForestREIMAN
6 April 2010Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreShawnee National ForestASPEN II
5 April 2007Railroad operations and maintenanceunder an acreShawnee National ForestGALE FIRE
3 April 2011Power generation/transmission/distribution5.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry ResourcesBEAN
25 April 2014Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreShawnee National ForestGALE

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Alexander County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 12 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 12 workings within 5 miles of Gale: 4 prospects, 3 past producers, 2 producers, 2 occurrences. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Diatomite, Clay, Silica. 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
Miss.River Shale ExposureClayProspect
Shawnee Special Use Silica Deposit 3SilicaOccurrence
Birk No. 3 MineDiatomiteProspect
Birk No.3 MineDiatomiteProspect
Federal MineStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Grays Point Quarry #2 & MillStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Limestone ProspectStone, Crushed/BrokenOccurrence
Thebes Sandstone DepositStone, Crushed/BrokenProspect
UnkStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
UnkStone, Crushed/BrokenUnknown

Every working recorded in Alexander County

Storms near this place

2 since 2008

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Gale in 2 storm reports between 2008 and 2013: 1 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
October 2013Tornado (EF0)Gale$100,000The tornado passed through East Cape Girardeau with estimated peak winds near 80 mph. Numerous trees and tree branches were blown down. There was shingle and other minor damage to several houses. A church steeple was blown off a church. Some damage occurred to fencing and small sheds. The average path width was 175 yards.
September 2008FloodGale-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Alexander 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
Thebes2.1 miles22
East Cape Girardeau4.1 miles25
McClure4.8 miles25
Fayville5.9 miles22
Diswood6.7 miles22
Olive Branch7.5 miles22
Clank7.7 miles22
Dawleys8.4 miles22

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 GaleAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q5518249The 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 408843. 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.