Ray Center, Michigan
14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1914 and the latest in 1991. It stands in Ray Township. It lies in ZIP code area 48096. It stands on Priest Drain. The Survey maps it on the Armada quadrangle. It stands 640 feet above sea level.
Topographic sheets covering this place
10 surveys from 14 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.
- 1914 USGS Armada quadrangle1:62500
- 1928 USGS Armada quadrangle1:62500
- 1945 USGS Armada quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1952 USGS Armada quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1954 USGS Detroit quadrangle1:250000
- 1961 USGS Detroit quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1965 USGS Detroit quadrangle1:250000
- 1968 USGS Armada quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1981 USGS Lake St. Clair North quadrangle1:100000
- 1991 USGS Armada quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
14 since 2018Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 14 fires within 5 miles of Ray Center between 2018 and 2020, burning about 14 acres in total. 3 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 |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 |
| Natural | 3 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 August 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | LENOX TOWNSHIP FIRE/RESCUE 0000438 - 2019 |
| 20 August 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | MACOMB TOWNSHIP FD 0003374 - 2019 |
| 15 August 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | LENOX TOWNSHIP FIRE/RESCUE 0000414 - 2019 |
| 9 July 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | CHESTERFIELD TOWNSHIP FD 0001836 - 2018 |
| 21 June 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | ARMADA TOWNSHIP FD 436 - 2020 |
| 31 May 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | ARMADA TOWNSHIP FD 359 - 2018 |
| 24 May 2019 | Natural | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | ARMADA TOWNSHIP FD 287 - 2019 |
| 1 May 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | MACOMB TOWNSHIP FD 0001736 - 2018 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
1 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Ray Center: 1 producer. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Katz Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
7 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Ray Center in 7 storm reports between 1996 and 2023: 4 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2014 | Tornado (EF0) | Ray Center | $5,000 | A brief EF0 tornado touched down around 204 pm EDT on Place Road between 29 and 30 mile road in Lenox Township. Maximum wind speeds were estimated to be 75 mph. Thin medal sheds were destroyed, with minor tree damage. This weak tornado was captured on video. |
| May 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ray Center | $4,000 | no account filed |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ray Center | $3,000 | Trees and wires reported down. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ray Center | - | Trees reported down. |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ray Center | - | A trained spotter reported a large tree blown down. |
| May 2016 | Hail | Ray Center | - | no account filed |
| July 1996 | Hail | Ray Center | - | 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.
| Wikidata item Q122571665 | 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 635677. 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.









