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Opal, Missouri

17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1982. It stands in Aurora Township. It lies in ZIP code area 65605. The Survey maps it on the Mount Vernon quadrangle.

Opal within Lawrence County

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 17 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

71 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 71 fires within 5 miles of Opal between 1994 and 2020, burning about 396 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 6 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 burning30
Missing data/not specified/undetermined26
Arson/incendiarism6
Equipment and vehicle use5
Railroad operations and maintenance2
Natural1
Smoking1

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
7 September 2000Missing data/not specified/undetermined4.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
25 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMissouri Department of Conservation230726-05533-09252020-1816
14 September 2000Equipment and vehicle use3.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
12 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMissouri Department of Conservation230801-05516-09122020-2005
28 August 2020Debris and open burning3.3 acresMissouri Department of Conservation220645-05533-08282020-1647
25 August 2000Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
17 August 2011Equipment and vehicle use2.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
14 August 1996Arson/incendiarism16 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Lawrence County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 223 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 223 workings within 5 miles of Opal: 215 past producers, 7 prospects, 1 occurrence. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Lead, Zinc, Zinc, Lead, Limestone, Dimension, Lead. 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
Unknown - IronIronPast Producer
Unknown - Lead & CopperCopper, LeadPast Producer
Unknown - Lead & Zinc & CopperLead, Zinc, CopperPast Producer
Queen City MineLeadPast Producer
Unknown - LeadLeadProspect
Unknown - ZincZincPast Producer
Unknown - ZincZincProspect
Unknown - Ls.DimLimestone, DimensionPast Producer
Unknown - Ls.DimLimestone, DimensionPast Producer
Unknown - Ls.DimLimestone, DimensionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Lawrence County

Storms near this place

5 since 2010

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Opal in 5 storm reports between 2010 and 2025: 3 flash flood, 1 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
January 2018Tornado (EF1)Opal$100,000A NWS storm survey found that a brief EF-1 tornado touched down in rural Lawrence County south of Mount Vernon. A couple of farm buildings were blown down on Farm Road 2155. One barn was destroyed. At least one home had minor roof damage. Several trees were uprooted and blown down along the path. A large tree smashed two cars. Estimated maximum wind speed was up to 95 mph.
April 2025Flash FloodOpal-County Road 2150 was flooded at a tributary of Honey Creek.
May 2025Flash FloodOpal-A report was received of roads being flooded and impassable.
September 2010Flash FloodOpal-The low water crossing on County Road 39 was closed due to flood waters.
April 2011HailOpal-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Lawrence 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
Elliott1.9 miles19
Orange3.3 miles19
Verona4.2 miles11
Aurora4.4 miles12
Hoberg5.3 miles17
Mount Vernon6.2 miles17
Freistatt6.8 miles17
Marionville7.1 miles19

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 741121. 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.