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Sterling, Michigan

10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Deep River Township. It lies in ZIP code area 48659. The Survey maps it on the Sterling quadrangle. 474 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 748 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Sterling within Arenac County

Population over time

2 figures

Sterling fell from 530 to 474 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.

YearPeople Change
2010530
2020474-56 (-11%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 10 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

90 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 90 fires within 5 miles of Sterling between 1992 and 2020, burning about 349 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 3 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
Railroad operations and maintenance29
Debris and open burning20
Missing data/not specified/undetermined14
Equipment and vehicle use13
Recreation and ceremony6
Arson/incendiarism3
Misuse of fire by a minor2
Smoking2
Natural1

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
24 September 2004Missing data/not specified/undetermined7.0 acresMichigan Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
23 September 2004Equipment and vehicle use1.5 acresMichigan Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
17 September 2013Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMichigan Department of Natural ResourcesARENAC 05
8 August 2012Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.8 acresMichigan Department of Natural ResourcesARENAC 06
23 August 2013Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMichigan Department of Natural ResourcesARENAC 04
11 August 2006Equipment and vehicle use17 acresMichigan Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
10 August 2005Debris and open burningunder an acreMichigan Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
3 July 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresMichigan Department of Natural ResourcesGIBSON TOWNSHIP FD 2020-20 - 2020

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Arenac 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 Sterling: 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Mk Perlberg Clay PitClayPast Producer

Every working recorded in Arenac County

Storms near this place

30 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Sterling in 30 storm reports between 1994 and 2024: 14 hail, 11 thunderstorm wind, 3 flood, 1 flash 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
August 2018Thunderstorm WindSterling$75,000Four homes suffered wind damage, with roofing and windows damaged by fallen trees.
August 2018Tornado (EF0)Sterling$45,000A tornado with estimated maximum winds of 85 mph briefly touched down along the Rifle River, about 4 miles northeast of Sterling. A number of hardwood and softwood trees were knocked over or snapped, damaging a few structures in the process.
May 2013Thunderstorm WindSterling$45,000Trees were downed in Sterling, while the roof was blown off of a home in Standish.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindSterling$34,000Trees and power lines were downed. A pickup truck was damaged by falling trees. A large barn roof was ripped off, and was deposited onto a nearby residence.
May 2004Flash FloodSterling$22,000Old 76 was flooded in Sterling, and Kerr Road was washed out. Several culverts were heavily damaged.
August 2015Thunderstorm WindSterling$20,000Numerous trees were downed, some of which were left leaning against structures.
November 2013Thunderstorm WindSterling$18,000Numerous trees were downed, knocking down utility lines as well. Old M-76 was closed for a period due to downed trees. Shingles were removed from several homes.
May 2018Thunderstorm WindSterling$15,000Numerous trees were blown down.
March 2006FloodSterling$15,000no account filed
August 2015HailSterling$10,000Some vehicles were damaged by golfball-sized hail.
July 2010Thunderstorm WindSterling$10,000Scattered trees were uprooted or snapped off in Sterling. Two light poles were downed at a gas station.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindSterling$10,000Many trees and power lines were downed.
March 2007FloodSterling$10,000The Rifle River near Sterling crested at 9.6 feet, above the estimated flood stage of 8 feet. In Clayton Township, water encroached on North and Main Roads, and near Town Line and Dobler Roads. In Standish Township, high water impacted Foco and Palmer Roads, and Arenac State Road just north of Worth Road.
July 2007Thunderstorm WindSterling$8,000Trees and power lines were downed.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindSterling$7,000Trees and power lines were downed in Sterling. Some driveways were blocked by fallen trees.
July 2024HailSterling-Social media report relayed by WFO GRR.
September 1998HailSterling-Large hail damaged crops and injured some livestock at area farms. Some trees were nearly stripped of leaves. Several homes suffered damage to siding...roofs and broken windows. Several satellite dishes were also destroyed. Cars and campers were dented to varying degrees with many broken windows.
July 1995Thunderstorm WindSterling-A spotter reported trees and power lines knocked down over an estimated 40 acres. The trees ranged in diameter from six to eight inches. In addition, some injuries were reported by emergency services directors.
May 2013HailSterling-no account filed
April 2011HailSterling-no account filed
April 2011HailSterling-no account filed
June 2010FloodSterling-no account filed
July 2007HailSterling-no account filed
October 2006HailSterling-no account filed
June 2005HailSterling-no account filed
May 2001HailSterling-no account filed
July 2001HailSterling-no account filed
September 1998HailSterling-no account filed
July 1997HailSterling-no account filed
June 1994HailSterling-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Arenac 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
Morres Junction4.1 miles10
Standish4.8 miles10
Melita5.5 miles10
Knights Mill7.1 miles11
Pine River7.9 miles10
Worth8.0 miles10
Alger8.2 miles9
Arenac8.9 miles10

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 SterlingAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1869918The 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 638795. 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.