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Powell, Missouri

14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1941 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Center Township. It lies in ZIP code area 65730. It stands on Mikes Creek. The Survey maps it on the Powell quadrangle. It stands 991 feet above sea level.

Powell within McDonald County

On record in Powell

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 1 record

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 14 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

58 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 58 fires within 5 miles of Powell between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,743 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 18 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 burning20
Arson/incendiarism18
Missing data/not specified/undetermined16
Equipment and vehicle use2
Natural2

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
6 August 1994Debris and open burning1.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
1 August 1994Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
2 June 1994Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
13 June 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMissouri Department of Conservation210510-06021-06132020-1505
6 May 2017Debris and open burning1.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
23 May 1994Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
2 May 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMissouri Department of Conservation178710-06021-05022019-2300
16 May 1996Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in McDonald County

Storms near this place

48 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Powell in 48 storm reports between 1997 and 2025: 17 flash flood, 11 thunderstorm wind, 10 flood, 5 hail. 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 2020Thunderstorm WindPowell$15,000Numerous trees were uprooted or suffered significant limb damage from high winds. A few outbuildings also suffered minor roof and siding damage.
February 2001Thunderstorm WindPowell$10,000no account filed
July 2020Thunderstorm WindPowell$5,000A large tree was uprooted and fell on a home causing minor roof an siding damage.
May 1997Tornado (F0)Powell$5,000no account filed
July 2000Thunderstorm WindPowell$3,000no account filed
June 2005Thunderstorm WindPowell$2,000A few trees and power lines were downed from severe thunderstorm wind gusts.
July 2009Thunderstorm WindPowell$1,000Severe thunderstorm winds downed a large tree which fell across state Highway E causing a blockage to traffic.
April 2025Flash FloodPowell-Route E along a Tributary of Big Sugar Creek was flooded and impassable.
April 2025Flash FloodPowell-State Highway E and Coopers Road along Big Sugar Creek was flooded and impassable.
April 2025FloodPowell-Route E at Cooper Hollow was flooded at the low water crossing over a tributary of Big Sugar Creek.
May 2025Heavy RainPowell-Storm total rainfall amount of 2.03 inches from May 23 through May 27.
March 2023Flash FloodPowell-Route E at Mikes Creek was flooded and impassable.
May 2022FloodPowell-State Highway E was closed due to flooding at Big Sugar Creek and Mikes Creek.
July 2022HailPowell-Quarter sized hail was reported.
April 2021Flash FloodPowell-Highway E was flooded after Big Sugar Creek rose over 5.5 feet in one hour, closing the road.
May 2021FloodPowell-State Highway E at Big Sugar and Mikes Creeks was closed due to flooding.
March 2021Flash FloodPowell-The low water crossing on Highway E at Big Sugar Creek was flooded and impassable.
March 2020Flash FloodPowell-Highway E was closed at Coopers Ford due to flooding.
January 2020Flash FloodPowell-Excessive rain caused flooding on Highway E at Big Sugar Creek.
January 2020Flash FloodPowell-State Highway E was closed due to flooding at Big Sugar Creek.
May 2020Thunderstorm WindPowell-A few large trees were reported down near the intersection of Cowan Ridge Road and Gobblers Knob Road.
July 2020Flash FloodPowell-Forty seven campers were stranded by rapidly rising flood waters at the Creekside Campground. All were safely relocated.
June 2019Flash FloodPowell-Big Sugar Creek was flowing out of its banks across Highway 90 in multiple locations. Water was at least 7 inches deep on the road surface.
October 2019Heavy RainPowell-The Mesonet station BSGM7 at the Big Sugar Creek south of Powell reported 2.19 inches of rainfall.
October 2019FloodPowell-The road on Route E was closed due to flooding in several locations near County Road SE E67.
February 2018FloodPowell-State Highway E was closed due to flooding.
April 2017FloodPowell-A former NWS employee reported flooding along Route E and Kings Hollow Road at several low water crossings.
July 2016Heavy RainPowell-A storm total rainfall of 4.06 inches was measured at the Big Sugar Creek gauge near Powell.
March 2015FloodPowell-Route E was closed in both directions near Mikes Creek and Big Sugar Creek.
March 2015FloodPowell-The Big Sugar Creek near Powell was at minor flood stage according to the river gage.
March 2015Flash FloodPowell-State Highway E about 6 miles south of Highway 76 had about a foot of water over the road.
June 2014Flash FloodPowell-Route E was impassable on the north side of town due to high water.
October 2014FloodPowell-Highway U was closed along Mikes Creek between Flag Springs Road and Stay Hollow Road.
May 2013FloodPowell-Roadways along Big Sugar Creek, Little Sugar Creek, and Indian Creek were closed due to flooding.
August 2013Flash FloodPowell-Route E was closed due to flooding.
May 2011Flash FloodPowell-Highway E south of Powell was closed due to high water.
April 2011Flash FloodPowell-Route E was closed due to flooding.
February 2009Thunderstorm WindPowell-Strong to severe thunderstorm wind gusts knocked over seven large tree limbs in a campsite near the community of Powell.
December 2008Tornado (EF0)Powell-A National Weather Service storm survey revealed that an EF-0 tornado briefly touched down along Highway E approximately two miles north of Powell. Damage was confined to trees in this area. Wind speeds were estimated at 70 mph.
September 2007Flash FloodPowell-Excessive rainfall flooded several low water crossings in the Powell area.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindPowell-Thunderstorm wind gusts downed a few trees in the Powell area.
May 2011HailPowell-no account filed
April 2008HailPowell-no account filed
June 2005Thunderstorm WindPowell-no account filed
April 2004HailPowell-no account filed
May 2002Flash FloodPowell-no account filed
April 1999HailPowell-no account filed
April 1999Thunderstorm WindPowell-no account filed

Every storm recorded in McDonald 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
McCullough Ford3.9 miles13
Cyclone4.0 miles13
Arnett4.7 miles14
Cove5.1 miles14
Bethpage5.5 miles14
Meadors Ford6.1 miles13
Plainview6.8 miles13
Simcoe6.9 miles14

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 PowellAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q6307058The 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 724808. 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.

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.