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Hale Center, Texas

7 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the Hale Center census division. It lies in ZIP code area 79041. The Survey maps it on the Hale Center quadrangle. 2,062 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 3,419 feet above sea level.

Hale Center within Hale County

Population over time

2 figures

Hale Center fell from 2,252 to 2,062 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
20102,252
20202,062-190 (-8%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

4 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

13 since 2006

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 13 fires within 5 miles of Hale Center between 2006 and 2018, burning about 1,650 acres in total. None 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
Equipment and vehicle use5
Missing data/not specified/undetermined5
Arson/incendiarism2
Debris and open burning1

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
1 May 2018Equipment and vehicle use129 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceEDWIN DAVIS FARM
7 March 2006Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Servicenot named
23 March 2011Debris and open burning152 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceTHOMPSON FIRE
22 March 2010Equipment and vehicle use285 acresTexas A & M Forest Service10-0322-01
9 February 2006Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Servicenot named
8 February 2006Equipment and vehicle use2.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Servicenot named
17 February 2006Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Servicenot named
9 November 2010Equipment and vehicle use366 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceCURRY FIRE

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Hale County

Storms near this place

49 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Hale Center in 49 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 28 hail, 10 thunderstorm wind, 4 flash flood, 3 tornado. The reports record 1 death. 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
April 1998LightningHale Center1 killedLightning struck and killed a 37 year-old male farmer who was out in an open area next to his irrigation/sprinkler system.
May 2019Flash FloodHale Center$1,000,000Numerous roads in and around Plainview were flooded by torrential rainfall from a supercell thunderstorm. The intersection of Interstate 27 and Farm to Market Road 194 was completely inundated by water. Water may have been reaching into some businesses along the road.
May 2015HailHale Center$350,000A nearly stationary supercell produced a severe hail swath ranging in size from quarters to softballs. Several dozen vehicles traveling along Interstate 27 between Abernathy and the Hale Center rest stop suffered varying degrees of damage; the worst of which involved losing nearly all windows.
May 2008Thunderstorm WindHale Center$150,000Local farmers reported that thunderstorm winds destroyed at least six irrigation pivot systems northwest of Hale Center.
April 1998Tornado (F2)Hale Center$100,000A short-lived but strong (F2) tornado occurred just north of Hale Center. Two people narrowly escaped injury when their home was destroyed (they had sought shelter in a small, interior closet in this ranch-style house). The tornado also heavily damaged a vacant house, barn, hangar, and center-pivot irrigation system. Several large trees were destroyed/uprooted. Damage was investigated by NWS officials just a few hours after it occurred.
April 2010FloodHale Center$75,000Low lying areas in and around Plainview were flooded by heavy rains. Flood waters threated the Ace Hardware store and several other structures, however, only minor damages were reported.
May 1995Thunderstorm WindHale Center$15,000no account filed
May 1999Thunderstorm WindHale Center$10,000Strong thunderstorm wind blew down several power poles.
July 1996Thunderstorm WindHale Center$5,000no account filed
December 1993Thunderstorm WindHale Center$5,000no account filed
September 2025Flash FloodHale Center-Local broadcast media relayed a video of flooding on Interstate-27 at the Cleveland Street underpass in Hale Center. The video also showed numerous vehicles stranded in flooded waters on the Interstate Highway.
May 2024Tornado (EFU)Hale Center-An off-duty NWS employee and a trained spotter reported a brief tornado north of Hale Center that remained over an open field.
May 2023HailHale Center-A member of the public reported golf ball size hail in Hale Center.
May 2021HailHale Center-An intense supercell thunderstorm, which previously produced a tornado earlier in the evening, produced a large hail swath from approximately six miles south of Hale Center to Petersburg. Numerous reports of hail were received along this path length. Hail sizes ranged from quarter size at the initial report near the intersection of Interstate 27 and Farm to Market Road 37 at 2131 CST to three inches in diameter about five miles northwest of Petersburg at 2157 CST.
May 2021Tornado (EFU)Hale Center-A few reports of a brief tornado were received from storm chasers and the public. The tornado remained over an open field and did not cause any known damage, therefore, an EF-Unknown was assigned.
May 2020HailHale Center-Local broadcast media reported hail up to ping pong ball size in Hale Center.
May 2018HailHale Center-No damage information was available.
March 2015HailHale Center-Estimated by a storm chaser. No damage was noted.
April 2013HailHale Center-A trained spotter measured quarter size hail. No damage was observed.
June 2012Thunderstorm WindHale Center-A trained spotter estimated wind gusts up to 65 mph and extensive blowing dust.
June 2012Thunderstorm WindHale Center-Relayed by the Hale Center EMC.
June 2012HailHale Center-The Hale Center EMC estimated quarter size hail. No damage was reported.
October 2012HailHale Center-A trained spotter estimated baseball size hail. The extent of any damage was not known.
October 2012Thunderstorm WindHale Center-A trained spotter estimated wind gusts to 65 mph with two inch diameter hail. The extent of damage was not known.
October 2012HailHale Center-A trained spotter estimated two inch diameter hail and winds of 65 mph. The extent of damage was not known.
June 2012FloodHale Center-Law enforcement closed the I-27 underpass in Hale Center for almost two hours after repeated heavy rains flooded the roadway.
July 2009HailHale Center-A swath of large hail combined with destructive thunderstorm winds to result in significant cotton crop losses. Hail up to the size of pennies fell along a swath west of Interstate 27 from southwest of Plainview to near Cotton Center and Hale Center. Local agricultural officials reported significant cotton crop losses following the storm, with combined damages from hail and wind accounting for an estimated 20,000 acres lost.
May 2006HailHale Center-Law enforcement officials reported golfball size hail along Interstate 27 south of Hale Center.
June 2005HailHale Center-Reported by NBC/KCBD11 Storm Chaser.
April 2002HailHale Center-The Hale County Sheriff's Office reported golfball size hail west of town on Farm-to-Market Road 1914.
May 2001Flash FloodHale Center-I-27 was flooded and subsequently closed due to a rapid rise of water.
May 2001HailHale Center-Amateur radio storm spotters reported two inch diameter hail.
May 2015FloodHale Center-no account filed
September 2005HailHale Center-no account filed
June 2005HailHale Center-no account filed
June 2004HailHale Center-no account filed
April 2002HailHale Center-no account filed
April 2002HailHale Center-no account filed
April 2001HailHale Center-no account filed
April 1997HailHale Center-no account filed
June 1996HailHale Center-no account filed
June 1996Thunderstorm WindHale Center-no account filed
May 1996Thunderstorm WindHale Center-no account filed
August 1996Flash FloodHale Center-no account filed
June 1995HailHale Center-no account filed
June 1995HailHale Center-no account filed
June 1995HailHale Center-no account filed
May 1995HailHale Center-no account filed
May 1995HailHale Center-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Hale 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
Hale City (historical)2.5 miles7
Six Point3.1 miles7
Underwood5.4 miles10
Snyder6.7 miles7
Furguson6.7 miles7
Mayfield8.3 miles7
Happy Union8.4 miles7
Cotton Center9.3 miles10

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 Hale CenterAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q970364The 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 1358638. 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.