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Arpelar, Oklahoma

17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1898 and the latest in 1991. It stands in the Northwest Pittsburg census division. It lies in ZIP code area 74501. The Survey maps it on the Haywood quadrangle. 291 people lived here at the 2020 count.

Arpelar within Pittsburg County

Population over time

2 figures

Arpelar grew from 272 to 291 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
2010272
2020291+19 (+7%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 surveys from 17 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

12 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 12 fires within 5 miles of Arpelar between 1993 and 2017, burning about 1,768 acres in total. None started naturally. 4 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined5
Arson/incendiarism4
Debris and open burning2
Equipment and vehicle use1

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
15 September 2006Equipment and vehicle use30 acresTalihina AgencyKILBORN1
1 June 2012Debris and open burning2.0 acresOklahoma Division of Forestry20078
5 April 2006Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreTalihina AgencyPYLEMTNRD
5 April 2006Missing data/not specified/undetermined5.0 acresTalihina AgencyPYLEPIPELI
26 March 2006Missing data/not specified/undetermined700 acresOklahoma Division of ForestryARPELAR 222
21 March 2017Missing data/not specified/undetermined8.0 acresOklahoma Division of Forestrynot named
18 March 2010Debris and open burning10 acresOklahoma Division of Forestry20073
17 March 2006Arson/incendiarism3.0 acresTalihina AgencyARPELAR

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Pittsburg County

Storms near this place

27 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Arpelar in 27 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 13 hail, 9 thunderstorm wind, 2 flash flood, 2 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
June 2025Tornado (EF1)Arpelar$100,000A line of thunderstorms approaching McAlester rapidly organized and developed a strong push of wind as it approached Pyle Mountain. Those winds contributed to the development of a large squall line circulation (QLCS), and resulted in the development of a tornado near Pyle Mountain. The tornado traveled east-southeast, crossing the Indian Nation Turnpike, and moved into the area around the State Penitentiary. Minor damage occurred at the McAlester-Pittsburg County Emergency Operations Center. The strong push of wind, which initially contributed to the development of the tornado, strengthened further and became the dominate feature. The tornado dissipated in north McAlester after crossing north Main Street. It uprooted numerous trees, and damaged homes, buildings and businesses. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in the tornado was 90 to 95 mph.
March 2006Thunderstorm WindArpelar$100,000no account filed
March 2024HailArpelar$15,000Half dollar size hail damaged vehicles and homes.
May 1999Thunderstorm WindArpelar$8,000A home's roof was partially removed.
February 2001Thunderstorm WindArpelar$2,000Thunderstorm winds did damage to the roof of a house and a roof of a barn.
August 2006Thunderstorm WindArpelar$1,000Thunderstorm winds estimated at 70 miles an hour blew down four power poles.
December 2015FloodArpelar-Portions of US 270 east of Arpelar were closed due to flooding.
December 2015FloodArpelar-Portions of Highway 270 east of the Indian Nation Turnpike to Arpelar were closed due to flooding.
May 2010Thunderstorm WindArpelar-Strong thunderstorm wind blew down several trees.
August 2006Thunderstorm WindArpelar-Thunderstorm winds estimated at 60 miles an hour blew down large tree limbs.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindArpelar-Thunderstorm winds estimated at 60 miles an hour blew down numerous large tree limbs.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindArpelar-A mesonet site recorded a 61 mph wind gust.
August 2003Flash FloodArpelar-Heavy thunderstorm rains caused Scipio Road to be closed due to flooding.
June 2003Flash FloodArpelar-Heavy thunderstorm rains with totals estimated in excess of 2 inches in a short period of time caused a few rural roads to be washed out near Arpelar.
May 1999HailArpelar-Location: at the Atoka/Pittsburg county line
April 2024HailArpelar-no account filed
June 2018HailArpelar-no account filed
May 2011HailArpelar-no account filed
June 2010HailArpelar-no account filed
March 2008HailArpelar-no account filed
March 2008HailArpelar-no account filed
April 2003HailArpelar-no account filed
May 2003HailArpelar-no account filed
May 2001Thunderstorm WindArpelar-no account filed
March 2000HailArpelar-no account filed
May 1999HailArpelar-no account filed
April 1995HailArpelar-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Pittsburg 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
Cabaniss3.1 miles13
Haywood3.9 miles17
Scipio7.8 miles14
Chambers9.0 miles18
Halley9.2 miles18
Ward Springs9.5 miles13
Savanna10.1 miles18
Frink10.1 miles18

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 ArpelarAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q5670456The 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 1089709. 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.