Desdemona, Texas
12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1894 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the Gorman census division. It lies in ZIP code area 76445. The Survey maps it on the Desdemona quadrangle. It stands 1,358 feet above sea level.
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 12 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.
- 1894 USGS Eastland quadrangle1:125000, 6 printings
- 1954 USGS Abilene quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Abilene quadrangle1:250000
- 1966 USGS Desdemona quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Stephenville quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
108 since 2005Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 108 fires within 5 miles of Desdemona between 2005 and 2020, burning about 5,437 acres in total. 4 started naturally. 2 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/undetermined | 32 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 28 |
| Debris and open burning | 28 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 11 |
| Natural | 4 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 2 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 September 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 2.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | not named |
| 1 September 2020 | Natural | under an acre | Texas A & M Forest Service | 34100 FM 8 |
| 9 August 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Texas A & M Forest Service | GKB GREENHAW |
| 8 August 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | 515 |
| 6 August 2019 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | under an acre | Texas A & M Forest Service | LOST MILL |
| 6 August 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | C.R. 360 GRASS FIRE |
| 31 August 2013 | Debris and open burning | 40 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | SHIRLEY |
| 30 August 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Texas A & M Forest Service | LINDLEY 2 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
11 since 1995Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Desdemona in 11 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 6 hail, 4 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 2000 | Tornado (F0) | Desdemona | $25,000 | A tornado touched down just south of town and moved north-northeast with intermittent touchdowns for 2.5 miles. Damage was done to an abandoned turkey barn, three sheds, a house, a mobile home, a car and power lines. |
| May 2015 | Hail | Desdemona | $5,000 | A public report of baseball sized hail was received approximately 3 miles west of Desedoma, TX. |
| September 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Desdemona | - | Photos were received of multiple trees snapped and branches down just east of Desdemona. |
| April 2023 | Hail | Desdemona | - | Emergency management reported ping pong ball sized hail in the town of Desdemona. |
| April 2008 | Hail | Desdemona | - | Quarter-size hail was reported near the intersection of CR 2214 and CR 571. |
| May 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Desdemona | - | Structural damage was done to buildings. |
| April 2013 | Hail | Desdemona | - | no account filed |
| April 2008 | Hail | Desdemona | - | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Desdemona | - | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Hail | Desdemona | - | no account filed |
| May 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Desdemona | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ellison Springs (historical) | 4.7 miles | 13 | |
| Gorman | 7.5 miles | 13 | |
| Chaney | 7.5 miles | 12 | |
| Kokomo | 8.2 miles | 12 | |
| Staff | 10.3 miles | 12 | |
| Merriman (historical) | 13.1 miles | 13 | |
| Carbon | 14.8 miles | 12 | |
| Olden | 14.8 miles | 13 |
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.
| Wikidata item Q3705927 | 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 1334281. 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.




