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Ashtola, Texas

7 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1986. It stands in the Clarendon census division. It lies in ZIP code area 79226. The Survey maps it on the Ashtola quadrangle.

Ashtola within Donley 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

46 since 2006

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 46 fires within 5 miles of Ashtola between 2006 and 2019, burning about 3,331 acres in total. 6 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 use20
Debris and open burning11
Missing data/not specified/undetermined8
Natural6
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

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
8 September 2007Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Servicenot named
27 September 2015Equipment and vehicle use5.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceDONLEY ARMSTRONG COUNTY LINE
4 August 2011Natural15 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceSALT FORK RANCH FIRE
29 August 2015Equipment and vehicle use5.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceAMSTRONG COUNTY - ASSIST CLAUDE FD
21 August 2015Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceUS 287 MM 166
16 August 2016Debris and open burning60 acresTexas A & M Forest ServicePAUL BELL CR 7
16 August 2015Debris and open burning1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceCR LL & CR 3
10 August 2012Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceUS 287 & CR1 - EAST BOUND

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Donley County

Storms near this place

28 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Ashtola in 28 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 25 hail, 2 tornado, 1 thunderstorm wind. 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
May 2024Tornado (EF1)Ashtola$50,000This tornado touched down after the initial parent tornado occluded. Based on spotter/chaser video, it appears to have developed in about the same locations as the first Clarendon tornado. It became wide, likely going over the same locations as the previous tornado. It then started to follow the rim of the mesocyclone, likely being more of a satellite tornado around the main mesocyclone. The tornado was recorded as being on the ground for about 15 minutes before finally lifting. It likely did not move very fast before finally becoming corkscrew in nature before lifting. Damage seems to be limited to mesquite brush damage. However, the worst known damage was to a water pumping windmill which was toppled and destroyed by the tornado. The maximum estimated winds were 90mph.
May 2013HailAshtola$10,000A thunderstorm developed over southern Donley County and slowly drifted to the south while intensifying. A storm chaser intercepted this thunderstorm as it crossed US Highway 287 5 miles west-southwest of Greenbelt Lake (Donley County). By that point the thunderstorm was producing copious amounts of hail up to golf ball size. Three to four inches of hail accumulation was estimated by the storm chaser on the highway. This created slick spots on US Highway 287 which caused a few motorist to lose control and swerve into the ditch. No injuries were reported with these accidents.
May 2017HailAshtola-Late report of hail ranging from golf ball to slightly larger than baseballs in size.
May 2016HailAshtola-Hail larger than golf balls was reported 7 miles west of Greenbelt Lake at Highway 287 and County Road 3.
May 2016HailAshtola-Golf ball size hail was reported 7 miles west of Clarendon.
August 2014HailAshtola-A cluster of thunderstorms developed over Donley County during the afternoon hours of the 28th. As these storms moved west of the town of Clarendon (Donley County), a law enforcement officer reported golf ball size hail (1.75 inches) nine miles northwest of Clarendon (Donley County). After producing this hail, the storms continued to move to the northeast across the county.
May 2003Tornado (F0)Ashtola-No damage or injuries were reported.
August 2001HailAshtola-The hail damaged three hundred to four hundred acres of crops near the Armstrong county line. Cotton was the hardest crop hit...however some hay and watermelons were also damaged.
May 1995HailAshtola-Thunderstorms moved across the southern half of the Texas panhandle producing hail up to golf ball-size. Two brief tornadoes occurred over open pasture land causing no damage. Strong outflow winds did damage some pivot sprinklers, a grain elevator, some outbuildings, and snapped a couple of power poles west of Lazbuddie. In Hart the winds damaged a couple of buildings. The golf ball-size hail east of Happy occurred on the Randall/Swisher County line.
April 2025HailAshtola-no account filed
June 2024HailAshtola-no account filed
May 2022HailAshtola-no account filed
April 2012HailAshtola-no account filed
April 2012HailAshtola-no account filed
June 2010HailAshtola-no account filed
August 2009HailAshtola-no account filed
June 2009HailAshtola-no account filed
March 2007HailAshtola-no account filed
May 2007HailAshtola-no account filed
June 2006Thunderstorm WindAshtola-no account filed
June 2006HailAshtola-no account filed
July 2004HailAshtola-no account filed
June 2000HailAshtola-no account filed
June 2000HailAshtola-no account filed
June 1999HailAshtola-no account filed
May 1997HailAshtola-no account filed
May 1996HailAshtola-no account filed
June 1996HailAshtola-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Donley 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
Howardwick7.5 miles7
Clarendon9.5 miles8
Jericho13.6 miles6
Lelia Lake16.2 miles8
Rockledge16.6 miles6
Hedley22.5 miles8
McKnight26.7 miles8
Giles27.5 miles8

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1351311. 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.