Kirksey, Kentucky
11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1936 and the latest in 1986. It stands in the Kirksey census division. It lies in ZIP code area 42071. The Survey maps it on the Kirksey quadrangle. It stands 554 feet above sea level.
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 11 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.
- 1936 USGS Kirksey quadrangle1:24000
- 1951 USGS Kirksey quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1951 USGS Murray quadrangle1:62500
- 1956 USGS Dyersburg quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1986 USGS Murray quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
19 since 1999Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 19 fires within 5 miles of Kirksey between 1999 and 2012, burning about 132 acres in total. None 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 |
|---|---|
| Recreation and ceremony | 8 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 3 |
| Debris and open burning | 1 |
| Smoking | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 September 1999 | Smoking | 2.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 4 August 2007 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 70 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 11 August 1999 | Debris and open burning | 5.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 7 March 2009 | Recreation and ceremony | 12 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 6 March 2010 | Recreation and ceremony | 3.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 6 March 2010 | Recreation and ceremony | 2.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 5 March 2010 | Recreation and ceremony | 1.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 20 March 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
4 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Kirksey: 3 prospects, 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Clay, Ball Clay. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cooley No. 11 Pit | Ball Clay | Past Producer | ||
| Backusburg Clay | Clay | Prospect | ||
| Cook Branch Clay Bed | Clay | Prospect | ||
| Kirk Ridge Clay Exposure | Clay | Prospect |
Storms near this place
13 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Kirksey in 13 storm reports between 1998 and 2024: 7 thunderstorm wind, 2 funnel cloud, 1 flood, 1 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Kirksey | $100,000 | A microburst centered in the southwest part of Kirksey affected an area about 1.5 miles wide. About two dozen structures were damaged, and about 50 trees were blown down. Trees landed across roads and houses. Small sections of roof decking were blown off a few structures. At least two windows were blown out. Estimated peak winds based on damage photos were 95 mph. |
| May 2010 | Flood | Kirksey | $40,000 | A dead-end street was closed due to a washout of a culvert, stranding residents on the end of the street. One lane of another road was closed due to a washout. Elsewhere across the county, two roads were closed. Water was over nine others, but they were passable. Emergency management personnel reported 4.03 inches in Murray from late on April 30th to midday on May 2nd. Upwards of 5 inches was reported south of Murray. |
| June 2023 | Flash Flood | Kirksey | $30,000 | A vehicle was swept 200 yards off a road into Damon Creek near the intersection of Backusburg Road and Cavett Road. The driver was rescued by a swift water rescue team. A mesonet site near Wingo in nearby Graves County measured about 3.5 inches of rain in about 3 hours and 30 minutes. |
| June 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Kirksey | $20,000 | Winds were estimated at 70 to 80 mph in parts of western Calloway County. Near Kirksey, carport anchors were ripped from concrete. Trees were down. Near Lynn Grove, Kentucky Highway 94 at Kentucky 299 was blocked due to a downed power line. A power pole was snapped. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Kirksey | $10,000 | Trees and power lines were down in town. At least one home was damaged by downed trees. |
| July 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Kirksey | $10,000 | Trees were blown down on both the north and south end of Murray. Wires were down at scattered locations in the city. Near Kirksey, several limbs were down, and a whole tree was blown across Kirksey Highway. Power was restored to all customers within 5 or 6 hours. |
| June 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Kirksey | $5,000 | Several trees were down east of Murray. A wind gust to 60 mph was measured at the Murray-Calloway County airport. |
| May 2024 | Hail | Kirksey | - | Quarter to golf ball size hail east of Kirksey with an early morning thunderstorm. |
| February 2012 | Heavy Rain | Kirksey | - | Minor flooding was reported across northern Calloway County, including the community of Almo. Radar estimated between one and 1.5 inches of rain fell in about an hour. |
| September 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Kirksey | - | Trees were blown down in the town. |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Kirksey | - | A few trees were blown down. |
| June 2019 | Funnel Cloud | Kirksey | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Funnel Cloud | Kirksey | - | 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.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Backusburg | 3.9 miles | 11 | |
| Penny | 4.0 miles | 12 | |
| Stella | 4.0 miles | 11 | |
| Chester (historical) | 4.5 miles | 11 | |
| Coldwater | 4.6 miles | 11 | |
| Flint (historical) | 4.7 miles | 12 | |
| Blakely (historical) | 4.8 miles | 12 | |
| Wadesboro | 5.2 miles | 12 |
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 Kirksey | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q14690772 | 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 495803. 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.




