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.
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 surveys from 17 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.
- 1886 USGS Greenfield quadrangle1:125000, 4 printings
- 1888 USGS Greenfield quadrangle1:125000
- 1921 USGS Stotts City quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1954 USGS Springfield quadrangle1:250000, 6 printings
- 1958 USGS Springfield quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Springfield quadrangle1:250000
- 1971 USGS Mount Vernon quadrangle1:24000
- 1982 USGS Springfield quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
71 since 1994Regional 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 burning | 30 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 26 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 6 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 5 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 2 |
| Natural | 1 |
| Smoking | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 September 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4.0 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | not named |
| 25 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Missouri Department of Conservation | 230726-05533-09252020-1816 |
| 14 September 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 3.0 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | not named |
| 12 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Missouri Department of Conservation | 230801-05516-09122020-2005 |
| 28 August 2020 | Debris and open burning | 3.3 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | 220645-05533-08282020-1647 |
| 25 August 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | not named |
| 17 August 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 2.0 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | not named |
| 14 August 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 16 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 223 shownRegional 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unknown - Iron | Iron | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown - Lead & Copper | Copper, Lead | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown - Lead & Zinc & Copper | Lead, Zinc, Copper | Past Producer | ||
| Queen City Mine | Lead | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown - Lead | Lead | Prospect | ||
| Unknown - Zinc | Zinc | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown - Zinc | Zinc | Prospect | ||
| Unknown - Ls.Dim | Limestone, Dimension | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown - Ls.Dim | Limestone, Dimension | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown - Ls.Dim | Limestone, Dimension | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
5 since 2010Regional 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 2018 | Tornado (EF1) | Opal | $100,000 | A 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 2025 | Flash Flood | Opal | - | County Road 2150 was flooded at a tributary of Honey Creek. |
| May 2025 | Flash Flood | Opal | - | A report was received of roads being flooded and impassable. |
| September 2010 | Flash Flood | Opal | - | The low water crossing on County Road 39 was closed due to flood waters. |
| April 2011 | Hail | Opal | - | 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.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elliott | 1.9 miles | 19 | |
| Orange | 3.3 miles | 19 | |
| Verona | 4.2 miles | 11 | |
| Aurora | 4.4 miles | 12 | |
| Hoberg | 5.3 miles | 17 | |
| Mount Vernon | 6.2 miles | 17 | |
| Freistatt | 6.8 miles | 17 | |
| Marionville | 7.1 miles | 19 |
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.







