Howard City, Michigan
13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Reynolds Township. It lies in ZIP code area 49329. The Survey maps it on the Howard City quadrangle. 1,835 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 889 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresHoward City grew from 1,808 to 1,835 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 1,808 | |
| 2020 | 1,835 | +27 (+1%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 13 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.
- 1954 USGS Midland quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1958 USGS Midland quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Howard City quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1959 USGS Midland quadrangle1:250000
- 1966 USGS Midland quadrangle1:250000
- 1976 USGS Howard City NW quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Cedar Springs quadrangle1:100000
- 1985 USGS Howard City quadrangle1:24000
- 1986 USGS Cedar Springs quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
8 since 2005Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 8 fires within 5 miles of Howard City between 2005 and 2019, burning about 23 acres in total. 2 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 |
|---|---|
| Equipment and vehicle use | 2 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2 |
| Natural | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
| Debris and open burning | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 May 2006 | Recreation and ceremony | 7.5 acres | Huron-Manistee National Forest | CABIN FIRE |
| 6 April 2019 | Natural | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | LAKEVIEW DISTRICT FD 0000061 - 2019 |
| 4 April 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 10 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | MAPLE VALLEY TWP FIRE DEPARTMENT 2019019 - 2019 |
| 22 April 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | MORLEY AREA FD 2019034 - 2019 |
| 21 April 2007 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Huron-Manistee National Forest | NEWCOSTA RD |
| 20 April 2019 | Natural | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | LAKEVIEW DISTRICT FD 0000065 - 2019 |
| 13 April 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Huron-Manistee National Forest | MOWER FIRE |
| 17 March 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | MAPLE VALLEY TWP FIRE DEPARTMENT 0000011 - 2018 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
11 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Howard City in 11 storm reports between 1997 and 2021: 8 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 1 flood. The reports record 23 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Howard City | 23 hurt, $14,000,000 | Michigan State Police EMD's Damage and Injury Assessment Report indicated $453,000 in public damage costs, 23 injuries, 6 individuals being sheltered, 400 homes damaged, 30 homes destroyed, 40 businesses damaged, and 50 vacation residences either damaged or destroyed. Private property damage was estimated around $13.5 Million. Most severe damage was reported in Pierson and Maple Valley Townships in the western panhandle of the county, with several cottages destroyed and damaged near and around Cody Lake and other area lakes. Significant damage was also reported in and around the city of Stanton. A team from the Michigan National Guard was deployed to the city of Stanton to assist in debris removal and cleanup operations. Montcalm County declared a local state of emergency and was granted a Governor's disaster declaration to activate state assistance for the county. On June 24th, President Clinton granted a Major Disaster Declaration for Montcalm County, making federal disaster assistance available. |
| April 2013 | Flood | Howard City | $3,000,000 | Heavy rain caused significant flooding on rivers and streams across Montcalm county. |
| July 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Howard City | $50,000 | Numerous reports of downed trees in and near Howard City and the northern portion of Montcalm county came in from Montcalm county dispatch. |
| October 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Howard City | $25,000 | An isolated severe storm produced high winds that blew several six to eight inch diameter trees down onto a barn near Howard City. Evergreen township was particularly hard hit with numerous trees down. Over seven thousand people in Montcalm county lost power. |
| June 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Howard City | $20,000 | A tree and several power lines were downed by gusty thunderstorm winds near Howard City. Power lines were also downed near Amble, and marble sized hail was observed as well. |
| August 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Howard City | $10,000 | A 74 mph wind gust was measured and there was a report of tree damage. |
| July 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Howard City | $10,000 | Trained spotters reported that several trees were blown down. |
| August 2015 | Hail | Howard City | $5,000 | The broadcast media reported that hail of up to an inch and a quarter in diameter was observed just north of Howard City. |
| May 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Howard City | $5,000 | Several trees were blown down in Howard City. |
| June 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Howard City | $2,500 | Several trees were downed in a trailer park in Howard City. |
| January 2008 | Hail | Howard City | - | An amateur radio operator reported one inch diameter hail 3 miles west of Howard City. |
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 Howard City | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2540083 | 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 1620259. 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.








