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Velva, North Dakota

9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1948 and the latest in 1980. It stands in Velva Township. It lies in ZIP code area 58790. It stands on Spring Creek. The Survey maps it on the Velva quadrangle. 1,086 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,512 feet above sea level.

Velva within McHenry County

On record in Velva

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 2 records

Population over time

2 figures

Velva grew from 1,084 to 1,086 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
20101,084
20201,086+2 (+0%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 9 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

10 since 2002

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 10 fires within 5 miles of Velva between 2002 and 2019, burning about 51 acres in total. None 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
Debris and open burning3
Equipment and vehicle use2
Missing data/not specified/undetermined1
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Fireworks1
Recreation and ceremony1
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
3 September 2018Debris and open burning3.0 acresNorth Dakota State Forest Service903171
11 September 2018Equipment and vehicle use5.0 acresNorth Dakota State Forest Service911181
10 September 2018Smoking1.0 acresNorth Dakota State Forest Service910181
21 August 2018Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresNorth Dakota State Forest Service82120182
13 August 2003Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreTurtle Mountain AgencyWARM WIND
5 July 2002Fireworks1.5 acresTurtle Mountain AgencyMARY
14 July 2019Debris and open burning1.0 acresNorth Dakota State Forest Service2019-20
29 April 2008Railroad operations and maintenance16 acresJ. Clark Salyer National Wildlife RefugeJOHNSON WPA

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in McHenry 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 Velva: 1 past producer. None of them still produces. 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
Velva Sand & GravelSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in McHenry County

Storms near this place

25 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Velva in 25 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 11 hail, 4 tornado, 4 thunderstorm wind, 3 flood. 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 2011HailVelva$150,000The large hail caused damage to area crops. The hail also damaged windows, siding, and vehicles. The damage amount is estimated.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindVelva$70,000A metal out-building was severely damaged by the wind. Pieces of the metal then blew into a multi family home causing damage to the roof.
May 2013FloodVelva$50,000A late season rapid snow melt caused flooding along the Souris (Mouse) River through southwest McHenry County. Additionally, there were necessary releases from upstream dams in North Dakota and Saskatchewan, Canada, due to rapid snow melt there. Some roads near the river were damaged.
July 1994Tornado (F1)Velva$50,000The tornado was reported by many observers and by the public. Its path was limited to the rural areas of the county. There were no injuries and the damage was mostly to crops and trees.
June 2013FloodVelva$45,000This river flooding was in part a continuation from the spring flooding that began in April and continued through May and into June. Some river points remained above flood stage through this period. The heavy rains through May and into June kept high water flowing through the system.
July 2022Thunderstorm WindVelva$25,000Significant tree damage occurred in Velva, with one large tree uprooted.
April 2013FloodVelva$20,000A late season rapid snow melt caused flooding along the Souris (Mouse) River through southwest McHenry County. Additionally, there were necessary releases from upstream dams in North Dakota and Saskatchewan, Canada, due to rapid snow melt there. Some roads near the river were damaged.
June 2007Thunderstorm WindVelva$20,000Trees snapped and a few uprooted.
June 2014Funnel CloudVelva-The Velva Fire Department reported a funnel cloud near Velva.
June 2013Tornado (EF0)Velva-Multiple reports of a weak tornado touchdown in far southeastern McHenry County were received. There was no damage and so the tornado was rated EF0.
June 2008Funnel CloudVelva-A funnel cloud was reported near Velva by Minot Air Force Base personnel.
June 2002Flash FloodVelva-Numerous street flooding and water over many roads.
June 2002Tornado (F1)Velva-Several tree's uprooted and shingles blown off roof several homes.
July 1999Thunderstorm WindVelva-Twenty ash trees blown over.
July 1998HailVelva-Damage to roofs and boats around a lake. People used hail stones as ice cubes.
July 1994HailVelva-The tornado was reported by many observers and by the public. Its path was limited to the rural areas of the county. There were no injuries and the damage was mostly to crops and trees.
July 1994Tornado (F1)Velva-The tornado was reported by many observers and by the public. Its path was limited to the rural areas of the county. There were no injuries and the damage was mostly to crops and trees.
July 2020HailVelva-no account filed
August 2013HailVelva-no account filed
August 2013HailVelva-no account filed
July 2010HailVelva-no account filed
July 2010HailVelva-no account filed
June 2007HailVelva-no account filed
June 2004HailVelva-no account filed
August 2001HailVelva-no account filed

Every storm recorded in McHenry 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
Voltaire5.3 miles16
Simcoe7.7 miles8
Genoa10.1 miles8
Verendrye11.0 miles6
Bergen12.0 miles6
Norwich13.5 miles8
Granville15.3 miles7
Kongsberg15.7 miles9

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 VelvaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2278261The 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 1032637. 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.