BlockBefore

Dale, Indiana

14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1900 and the latest in 1994. It stands in Carter Township. It lies in ZIP code area 47523. The Survey maps it on the Dale quadrangle. 1,544 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 466 feet above sea level.

Dale within Spencer County

Population over time

2 figures

Dale fell from 1,593 to 1,544 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
20101,593
20201,544-49 (-3%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 14 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

1 since 2018

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of Dale in 2018, burning under an acre in total. 1 started naturally. None was 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
Natural1

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
13 April 2018Naturalunder an acreLincoln Boyhood National MemorialDRACH

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Spencer County

Storms near this place

31 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Dale in 31 storm reports between 1993 and 2024: 13 thunderstorm wind, 8 hail, 4 flash flood, 3 heavy rain. 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
May 2004Flash FloodDale$1,100,000no account filed
April 1996Thunderstorm WindDale$200,000no account filed
June 2011Thunderstorm WindDale$60,000A utility pole was broken. Road signs were blown away at the intersection of Highway 62 and U.S. Highway 231. A temporary mobile cable transmission tower was blown over.
March 2023Tornado (EF1)Dale$50,000An EF-1 tornado began just northeast of the community of Dale, IN, in northern Spencer County. Near the intersection of Spencer County Roads 2100 North and 500 East, a large barn had about half of its roof removed. A nearby house had its west facing windows blown in, suffered shingle and fascia damage, and an adjacent TV antenna was bent at its base parallel to the ground. Crossing Interstate 64, the tornado overturned a semitrailer about one mile east of the interchange with US 231. Along the Spencer-Dubois County line, several large trees were snapped at the base or uprooted. Additionally, a couple of homes received minor roof and fascia damage. Peak winds were estimated near 95 mph. The tornado continued moving into Dubois County.
May 1996Tornado (F1)Dale$50,000no account filed
November 1993Thunderstorm WindDale$50,000no account filed
May 2006Thunderstorm WindDale$40,000The roof was blown off a home, and its walls were damaged. A barn was destroyed. The damage area was 150 feet by 200 feet. The damage was located about one quarter mile south of the Interstate 64 junction with U.S. 231.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindDale$40,000Numerous trees and tree limbs were downed across northern Spencer County. Homes and buildings were damaged by toppled tree limbs near Dale and Santa Claus. A roof was torn off a home near St. Meinrad.
June 2023Thunderstorm WindDale$20,000Shingles were blown off a home. A tree was down on a truck.
September 2018Flash FloodDale$20,000State Highway 66 was flooded west of Rockport. Water was over Highway 245 south of Santa Claus. Numerous county roads were flooded across the county. High water was over County Road 1600N near Santa Claus. Several water rescues were conducted due to stranded vehicles.
July 2019Thunderstorm WindDale$15,000Minor structural damage occurred to farm outbuildings.
July 2002Thunderstorm WindDale$15,000A thunderstorm microburst, containing winds estimated near 90 MPH, destroyed a two-story barn just off Highway 245 between Dale and Santa Claus. Three cattle were killed and 11 others injured. About five miles to the northwest, another barn was reportedly destroyed.
October 2019Thunderstorm WindDale$2,000Large tree limbs were down.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindDale$1,000A tree was downed by thunderstorm winds east of Dale on IN-62.
July 2019FloodDale-Some roads started to flood in and around Dale, including a flooded railroad crossing.
May 2014Heavy RainDale-There was ponding of water on several roads.
November 2013Flash FloodDale-Six inches of water was flowing across a road in Dale.
July 2011Heavy RainDale-Several inches of water covered most roads in Dale.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindDale-A mobile spotter measured a gust to 64 mph.
May 2006Heavy RainDale-Around two inches of rain fell in two hours. Minor flooding occurred on some roads.
April 2006HailDale-Nickel size hail fell in Dale. Dime size hail fell near Santa Claus.
May 2006HailDale-Three-inch hail was reported two miles west of Dale. In Dale, softball size hail was reported.
June 2006HailDale-Nickel size hail lasted for five minutes.
May 2003Thunderstorm WindDale-Trees were down near Dale and Santa Claus.
March 2002HailDale-Nickel size hail was reported in Dale. Dime size hail fell at Gentryville.
September 2001Thunderstorm WindDale-A couple of large trees were blown down.
April 2011HailDale-no account filed
June 2011HailDale-no account filed
May 2007HailDale-no account filed
April 2003HailDale-no account filed
May 1996Flash FloodDale-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Spencer 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
Lincoln City3.3 miles15
Mariah Hill3.5 miles14
Rockport Junction4.3 miles18
Gentryville5.0 miles18
Buffaloville5.1 miles15
Santa Claus5.2 miles15
Kercheval5.6 miles18
Santa Fe5.8 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 DaleAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1157832The 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 433288. 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.