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Napoleon, North Dakota

6 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the West Logan unorganized territory. It lies in ZIP code area 58561. The Survey maps it on the McKenna Lake North quadrangle. 749 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,959 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Napoleon within Logan County

On record in Napoleon

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

Population over time

2 figures

Napoleon fell from 792 to 749 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
2010792
2020749-43 (-5%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

4 surveys from 6 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

14 since 2012

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 14 fires within 5 miles of Napoleon between 2012 and 2019, burning about 20 acres in total. 2 started naturally. None was 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
Equipment and vehicle use6
Missing data/not specified/undetermined5
Natural2
Debris and open burning1

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 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNorth Dakota State Forest ServiceSILEAGE BURN - CLEMENS GROSS FARM
10 September 2018Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreNorth Dakota State Forest ServiceHAY EQUIPMENT
30 August 2017Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresNorth Dakota State Forest ServiceBRIAN GADER
12 August 2017Natural2.0 acresNorth Dakota State Forest ServicePETE THOMPSON
5 July 2017Equipment and vehicle use10 acresNorth Dakota State Forest ServicePETE PIATZ
18 July 2017Natural1.0 acresNorth Dakota State Forest ServiceHAY BALE FIRE
4 June 2017Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresNorth Dakota State Forest ServiceGRASS FIRE
18 June 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNorth Dakota State Forest ServiceHAY BALES ON TRUCK - JOHN WALD

Every fire recorded in Logan 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 Napoleon: 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
Napoleon Sand & Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Logan County

Storms near this place

60 of 70 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Napoleon in 70 storm reports between 1995 and 2024: 40 hail, 16 thunderstorm wind, 6 tornado, 2 lightning. 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 2010HailNapoleon$1,500,000The large hail damaged many area homes, campers, and vehicles. Damage to crops was limited as despite the large size of the hail, the aerial coverage of hail was spotty according to insurance adjusters.
May 2010Thunderstorm WindNapoleon$500,000There was significant damage to farms from about six miles west of Napoleon to about two miles northwest of Napoleon. Damage was done to pole barns and other outbuildings. Six power poles were snapped and one cow was killed in the area west of Napoleon. There was also crop damage.
July 2011Tornado (EF2)Napoleon$450,000A National Weather Service storm survey confirmed that an EF2 tornado on the Enhanced Fujita Scale touched down around seven miles south southwest of Napoleon, then moved east southeast before lifting four miles east of Burnstad. No fewer than three farmsteads were damaged along the path of the tornado. The worst damage occurred seven miles south southwest of Napoleon, where the tornado picked up and threw an 18 thousand bushel grain bin 250 yards, and also destroyed 1,800 feet of shelter belt trees near 100 feet tall. East southeast of this farmstead, the tornado lifted and rolled a ten ton grain bin three quarters of one mile to another farmstead, where it impacted and damaged a barn. The damage corresponded to EF2 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. From that it was determined that wind speeds with this tornado were around 120 miles per hour.
August 2014Flash FloodNapoleon$250,000Many homes had significant amounts of water in their basements from runoff. Some basements collapsed. Rain amounts were up to six inches. Crops were flooded.
August 2007HailNapoleon$250,000Multiple reports from various sources of large hail over north central and northeast Logan County, including in the city of Napoleon. Most of the hail was 1.50 to 2.50 inches in diameter. The largest stones were 3.50 inches diameter from 4 miles northeast of Napoleon to 8 miles northeast of Napoleon, and in the area 17 miles east of Napoleon. The swath of hail damage to crops was a few miles wide in spots. Reports came from law enforcement, newspapers, emergency management, weather spotters, and the public. The same supercell storm produced two tornadoes in Logan County on August 26.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindNapoleon$200,000Four campers were rolled over at McKenna Lake.
June 1999Thunderstorm WindNapoleon$200,000no account filed
August 2006HailNapoleon$150,000Hail swath 2 miles wide from 2 miles SW Napoleon to 10 miles E Napoleon. Hail was piled a foot deep in places. Major damage to windows and roofs. Hail was being reported in real time by trained spotters. Hail path and swath was determined from newspaper articles. Crop damage included 250 acres of corn.
March 2009FloodNapoleon$121,000Overland flooding damaged state, county and township roads. Four homes were flooded. Flooding continued into April.
August 2007HailNapoleon$60,000Windows were broken on cars and there was other property damage.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindNapoleon$50,000Strong thunderstorm winds damaged several empty grain bins.
April 2009FloodNapoleon$50,000Heavy runoff from snowmelt resulted in additional overland flooding which further damaged several county and local roads.
June 2001Thunderstorm WindNapoleon$45,000Damage to pole barns and farm house caused approxiately 45 thousand dollars .
July 2010HailNapoleon$45,000no account filed
July 2018LightningNapoleon$30,000Lightning struck a house and started a fire.
October 1997Thunderstorm WindNapoleon$30,000Strong thunderstorm winds continued into Logan county. Pole barns were toppled along damage path, as well as a few out buildings. Roofs also partially ripped off of a few barns. A few of the buildings just finished receiving repairs from the July 1st storm.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindNapoleon$20,000Very strong thunderstorm winds resulted in a cattle trailer being blown over in Napoleon.
August 1997Thunderstorm WindNapoleon$10,000thunderstorm winds blew down a chain link fence around the school. Also numerous trees fell in town with some falling across houses or automobiles.
June 2016HailNapoleon$10,000no account filed
June 2013Flash FloodNapoleon$9,000Deep water and debris was flowing fast over Highway 34 west of Napoleon in Logan County. Rain reports of up to three inches were received from adjacent areas of Emmons County.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindNapoleon$5,000Tree branches to three inches in diameter were broken.
July 2017Thunderstorm WindNapoleon$2,000Tree branches were broken down.
July 2021HailNapoleon-The hail caused some crop damage.
June 2013Heavy RainNapoleon-Heavy rain of two inches fell in one hour.
July 2011Tornado (EF0)Napoleon-A brief tornado touchdown occurred near Napoleon. No structures were impacted, and no damage was reported with this tornado.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindNapoleon-Very heavy rain and small hail accompanied the strong thunderstorm winds.
August 2007Tornado (EF0)Napoleon-Public reported tornado touched down four times along this path. Tornado lifted to a funnel cloud and then touched down repeatedly. NWS storm damage survey also indicated this as the evidence was sporadic along the path, indicating the tornado was not on the ground the entire time / length. No structures impacted. Damage to crops. See the second tornado entry for Logan County August 26 for the same supercell storm. Also see the large hail entry, again from the same supercell.
August 2007Tornado (EF0)Napoleon-Damage to trees and hay and straw bales. Bales were blown a few hundred feet. NWS storm damage survey completed. No structures impacted. See the first tornado entry for Logan County August 26 for the same supercell storm. Also see the large hail entry, again from the same supercell.
August 2006LightningNapoleon-Lightning struck a tree, traveled into the ground, and blew a 2 1/2 foot wide hole in the ground near the trunk.
June 2005HailNapoleon-ARB observer reports penny size hail.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindNapoleon-Reported by a NWS cooperative observer.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindNapoleon-Wind damage to nearly all farmsteads between Napoleon and Fredonia with one family home destroyed. Power outage occurred for several hours in the city of Napoleon along with numerous trees uprooted and one home receiving major roof damage. On the outskirts of Napoleon 30-4 thousand pound each thresher machines tipped on their sides. A 75,000 and two 25,000 bushel grain bins destroyed along with a well/drilling and repair shop destroyed in the city of Fredonia.
June 2001HailNapoleon-Duration of the hail was 25 minutes.
June 2001Thunderstorm WindNapoleon-Cooperative observer reported roof blown off a business and mature tree's uprooted.
August 1999Tornado (F1)Napoleon-Tornado touch down in open field.
June 1998Tornado (F0)Napoleon-Tornado remained in rural areas and caused no damage. Ground was white with pea size hail after storm lifted.
July 1995Thunderstorm WindNapoleon-Numerous tree branches and power lines knocked down
July 2022HailNapoleon-no account filed
July 2022HailNapoleon-no account filed
September 2022HailNapoleon-no account filed
August 2020HailNapoleon-no account filed
August 2020HailNapoleon-no account filed
August 2020HailNapoleon-no account filed
August 2020HailNapoleon-no account filed
May 2019HailNapoleon-no account filed
July 2018HailNapoleon-no account filed
August 2018HailNapoleon-no account filed
June 2017HailNapoleon-no account filed
July 2016HailNapoleon-no account filed
July 2016HailNapoleon-no account filed
July 2016Funnel CloudNapoleon-no account filed
June 2013HailNapoleon-no account filed
May 2012HailNapoleon-no account filed
May 2012HailNapoleon-no account filed
May 2012HailNapoleon-no account filed
July 2011HailNapoleon-no account filed
August 2007HailNapoleon-no account filed
May 2006HailNapoleon-no account filed
June 2006HailNapoleon-no account filed
June 2006HailNapoleon-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Logan 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
Peters9.2 miles7
Burnstad11.2 miles7
Guyson33.3 miles7
Gackle34.3 miles6
Fredonia37.9 miles7

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 NapoleonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q996166The 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 1030352. 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.