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Sterling, North Dakota

7 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1951 and the latest in 1979. It stands in Sterling Township. It lies in ZIP code area 58572. The Survey maps it on the Sterling quadrangle. It stands 1,932 feet above sea level.

Sterling within Burleigh County

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 7 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

4 since 2001

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 4 fires within 5 miles of Sterling between 2001 and 2015, burning about 188 acres in total. 1 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 use2
Debris and open burning1
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
3 September 2002Equipment and vehicle use13 acresLong Lake National Wildlife RefugeSTERLING 5
4 July 2002Natural1.0 acresLong Lake National Wildlife RefugeSTERLING 3
4 October 2001Equipment and vehicle use64 acresLong Lake National Wildlife RefugeSTERLING 1
11 October 2015Debris and open burning110 acresLong Lake National Wildlife RefugeMONROE

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Burleigh 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 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
Adams West PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Burleigh County

Storms near this place

23 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Sterling in 23 storm reports between 1995 and 2024: 13 thunderstorm wind, 8 hail, 1 tornado, 1 lightning. The reports record 3 injuries. 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 2024LightningSterling3 hurt, $1,000A NWS meteorologist interviewed one of the victims. Three teenage males were goose hunting when thunderstorms approached their area. They packed up their equipment and were walking to their pickup truck close by when all three were struck by lighting. The victims were knocked down, and when they were able to get up they continued their return to the pickup truck and drove to a hospital emergency room in Bismarck. One victim suffered a small brain bleed and reduced hearing. The second victim suffered a large cut in his hand along with a flash burn to his eyes. The third victim suffered tingling sensations in his right foot along with a headache. All the victims recovered from their injuries. The goose blinds they were carrying were severely damaged in the incident.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindSterling$300,000Straight line winds caused significant damage in and to the south of Sterling. On the south side of Sterling, a large grain bin in an elevator complex was dislodged and blew to the east-southeast. South of this location, a large sunflower field was significantly damaged with many parts of the field flattened. Along Highway 83, fifteen power poles were broken or significantly damaged on both sides of the highway.
July 2021Thunderstorm WindSterling$100,000Several semi-trailers were turned over by thunderstorm wind gusts near Sterling.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindSterling$40,000The strong winds resulted in extensive tree damage throughout the town of Sterling.
August 2019HailSterling$30,000Large trees were damaged and power lines were down.
September 2024Thunderstorm WindSterling$10,000Multiple trees were damaged in the city of Sterling.
September 2016Thunderstorm WindSterling-The public estimated thunderstorm wind gusts of 60 mph.
August 2012HailSterling-No damage was reported with the large hail.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindSterling-The strong winds lasted a few minutes.
June 2008HailSterling-Penny to quarter size hail was reported in Sterling.
June 2007Tornado (EF0)Sterling-No damage reported in real time or in follow up calls to emergency management.
June 2007HailSterling-No damage was reported.
July 2021Thunderstorm WindSterling-no account filed
July 2020Thunderstorm WindSterling-no account filed
June 2020Thunderstorm WindSterling-no account filed
August 2019Thunderstorm WindSterling-no account filed
July 2018Thunderstorm WindSterling-no account filed
June 2018Thunderstorm WindSterling-no account filed
July 2017Thunderstorm WindSterling-no account filed
September 2016HailSterling-no account filed
June 2009HailSterling-no account filed
August 2006HailSterling-no account filed
August 1995HailSterling-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Burleigh 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
McKenzie6.5 miles7
Driscoll8.2 miles7
Brittin9.1 miles5
Moffit9.4 miles5
Menoken12.7 miles10
Apple Valley16.2 miles10
Pierce21.3 miles11
Hillcrest Acres21.8 miles11

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 Q14708390The 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 1032304. 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.