Zap, North Dakota
5 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1969. It stands in Zap City. It lies in ZIP code area 58580. The Survey maps it on the Zap quadrangle. 221 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,847 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresZap fell from 237 to 221 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 237 | |
| 2020 | 221 | -16 (-7%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
3 surveys from 5 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.
- 1954 USGS McClusky quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS McClusky quadrangle1:250000
- 1969 USGS Zap quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
7 since 2005Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 7 fires within 5 miles of Zap between 2005 and 2020, burning about 224 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 |
|---|---|
| Equipment and vehicle use | 4 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 2 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 August 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | North Dakota State Forest Service | N OF MM140 HWY 200 |
| 18 July 2018 | Smoking | 1.0 acres | North Dakota State Forest Service | HWY 200 WEST OF COUNTY RD 17 |
| 17 July 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 60 acres | North Dakota State Forest Service | WEIGUM/COTEAU FIRE |
| 2 May 2020 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 60 acres | North Dakota State Forest Service | RAILROAD |
| 14 April 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 100 acres | North Dakota State Forest Service | REICH |
| 28 March 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 1.0 acres | North Dakota State Forest Service | WEST OF PISCHEL |
| 17 November 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | North Dakota State Forest Service | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
31 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Zap in 31 storm reports between 1997 and 2025: 18 hail, 10 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 1 heavy rain. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2014 | Hail | Zap | $60,000 | Strong winds accompanied the large hail. Follow up reports included damage to structures, vehicles, and crops. |
| June 2012 | Hail | Zap | $12,000 | Large hail resulted in minor car and home damage. |
| August 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Zap | $3,000 | The severe thunderstorm wind gusts snapped three inch in diameter tree limbs. |
| August 2025 | Tornado (EFU) | Zap | - | The tornado touched down in an open field south of Zap and impacted no structures. There was no damage to evaluate. By National Weather Service policy the tornado is rated EF-U (Unknown). |
| June 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Zap | - | Thunderstorm winds combined with pea sized hail to severely damage a corn field. |
| July 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Zap | - | Large hail accompanied the strong winds. |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Zap | - | Heavy rain accompanied the strong winds. |
| July 2011 | Heavy Rain | Zap | - | A heavy rainfall report of 1.8 inches in one half hour was received. |
| September 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Zap | - | Heavy rain accompanied the strong thunderstorm winds. |
| August 2006 | Hail | Zap | - | Storm accompanied by estimated 55 mph wind gusts near Zap. |
| August 2006 | Hail | Zap | - | Also had 50 mph wind gusts. Leaves were stripped from trees. |
| July 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Zap | - | no account filed |
| July 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Zap | - | no account filed |
| August 2017 | Hail | Zap | - | no account filed |
| June 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Zap | - | no account filed |
| August 2013 | Hail | Zap | - | no account filed |
| August 2013 | Hail | Zap | - | no account filed |
| July 2011 | Hail | Zap | - | no account filed |
| July 2011 | Hail | Zap | - | no account filed |
| August 2011 | Hail | Zap | - | no account filed |
| July 2010 | Hail | Zap | - | no account filed |
| July 2008 | Hail | Zap | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Zap | - | no account filed |
| August 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Zap | - | no account filed |
| July 2005 | Hail | Zap | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | Zap | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Zap | - | no account filed |
| July 1999 | Hail | Zap | - | no account filed |
| July 1999 | Hail | Zap | - | no account filed |
| August 1999 | Tornado (F0) | Zap | - | no account filed |
| July 1997 | Hail | Zap | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Golden Valley | 7.5 miles | 7 | |
| Beulah | 7.8 miles | 6 | |
| Truax | 15.4 miles | 6 | |
| Hazen | 15.9 miles | 5 | |
| Stanton | 28.8 miles | 8 | |
| Pick City | 29.3 miles | 7 | |
| Knife River Village (historical) | 29.3 miles | 8 |
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 Zap | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q927478 | The 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 1032903. 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.


