BlockGrethel, Kentucky
18 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1890 and the latest in 1992. It stands in the Grethel-Teaberry census division. It lies in ZIP code area 41631. It stands on Branham Creek. The Survey maps it on the McDowell quadrangle. It stands 722 feet above sea level.
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 18 printed sheetsMatched 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.
- 1890 USGS Whitesburg quadrangle1:125000
- 1892 USGS Whitesburg quadrangle1:125000, 4 printings
- 1914 USGS Vergie quadrangle1:48000
- 1916 USGS Pikeville quadrangle1:62500, 5 printings
- 1954 USGS Mc Dowell quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Jenkins quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Jenkins quadrangle1:250000
- 1977 USGS Pikeville quadrangle1:100000
- 1992 USGS Mc Dowell quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
343 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 343 fires within 5 miles of Grethel between 1997 and 2020, burning about 12,986 acres in total. None started naturally. 75 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 burning | 142 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 81 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 75 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 41 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 2 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 1 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 10 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 8 September 2007 | Debris and open burning | 8.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 30 September 2007 | Debris and open burning | 50 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 29 September 2007 | Debris and open burning | 8.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 28 September 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 49 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 23 September 2008 | Recreation and ceremony | 1.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 23 September 2007 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 22 September 2007 | Debris and open burning | 17 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
12 since 2003Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Grethel in 12 storm reports between 2003 and 2025: 4 thunderstorm wind, 3 flash flood, 3 hail, 2 flood. 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2007 | Flash Flood | Grethel | $60,000 | Flood water on Rt 979 delayed Fire Dept from responding to home fire. An alternate route had to found. |
| July 2021 | Flood | Grethel | $1,000 | Minor flooding of a structure occurred in Grethel. |
| August 2013 | Flash Flood | Grethel | $1,000 | Kentucky Highway 979 near Grethel was closed due to flooding. |
| April 2025 | Hail | Grethel | - | A photo on social media showed nickel-sized hail in the community of Grethel, KY. |
| March 2021 | Flood | Grethel | - | KY-979 is blocked due to high water across the road near the Mud Creek Clinic just south of Grethel. |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Grethel | - | A tree was blown down. |
| June 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Grethel | - | A large limb was broken off of a tree by thunderstorm wind gusts. |
| July 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Grethel | - | Trees were blown down on Hwy 979 along Mud Creek. |
| May 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Grethel | - | Trees were down. |
| June 2003 | Flash Flood | Grethel | - | Several roads were under water, including 6 to 8 inches over Kentucky Route 979 near Grethel. |
| June 2015 | Hail | Grethel | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Hail | Grethel | - | no account filed |
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.
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 Grethel | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q5607760 | The 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 493369. 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.