BlockBefore

Skeels, Michigan

9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Sherman Township. It lies in ZIP code area 48624. The Survey maps it on the Skeels quadrangle.

Skeels within Gladwin County

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 9 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

78 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 78 fires within 5 miles of Skeels between 1992 and 2020, burning about 310 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 4 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 burning27
Equipment and vehicle use16
Missing data/not specified/undetermined13
Recreation and ceremony6
Arson/incendiarism4
Railroad operations and maintenance3
Smoking3
Natural2
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Other causes1
Misuse of fire by a minor1

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
26 September 2017Debris and open burningunder an acreMichigan Department of Natural ResourcesCLARE 15
12 August 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined15 acresMichigan Department of Natural ResourcesGLADWIN 11
11 August 2016Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreMichigan Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
1 August 2007Equipment and vehicle use4.0 acresMichigan Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
9 July 2001Arson/incendiarismunder an acreMichigan Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
26 July 2001Railroad operations and maintenanceunder an acreMichigan Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
15 July 2008Equipment and vehicle use2.0 acresMichigan Department of Natural ResourcesGLADWIN 15
11 July 2018Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresMichigan Department of Natural ResourcesGLADWIN RURAL URBAN FD 0000132 - 2018

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Gladwin County

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Skeels: 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
State of Michigan PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Gladwin County

Storms near this place

7 since 2003

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Skeels in 7 storm reports between 2003 and 2025: 4 hail, 3 thunderstorm wind. 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
July 2025Thunderstorm WindSkeels$12,000Multiple reports of thunderstorm wind damage and power outages in neighborhoods near Grass Lake in northwestern Gladwin county. Trained spotter in this area reported personal weather station wind measurement to 51mph at 10 ft above ground level.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindSkeels$11,000Adams Road closed north of M-18 due to downed power lines from the thunderstorm winds. Time estimated by radar.
June 2023Thunderstorm WindSkeels$3,000Report of a tree down on a power line at N Bard Rd and Eaton Rd. EM stated that the power line was arcing. Time estimated by radar.
September 2022HailSkeels-no account filed
May 2018HailSkeels-no account filed
August 2008HailSkeels-no account filed
July 2003HailSkeels-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Gladwin 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
Podunk2.8 miles9
Oberlin4.4 miles9
Butman7.2 miles9
Wagarville7.5 miles9
Hockaday8.5 miles9
McClure9.2 miles9
Gladwin9.2 miles10
Sugar Rapids9.5 miles9

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 638050. 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.