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Littlefield, Texas

8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the Littlefield census division. It lies in ZIP code area 79339. The Survey maps it on the Littlefield quadrangle. 5,943 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 3,556 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Littlefield within Lamb County

Population over time

2 figures

Littlefield fell from 6,372 to 5,943 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
20106,372
20205,943-429 (-7%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 8 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

4 since 2011

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 4 fires within 5 miles of Littlefield between 2011 and 2014, burning about 655 acres in total. 1 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
Debris and open burning2
Natural1
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
26 April 2014Equipment and vehicle use5.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceGRASS14-11
9 March 2014Natural50 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceGRASS14-4
26 March 2011Debris and open burning450 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceHEFFINTON
7 January 2011Debris and open burning150 acresTexas A & M Forest Service10711

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Lamb County

Storms near this place

60 of 86 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Littlefield in 86 storm reports between 1993 and 2026: 57 hail, 22 thunderstorm wind, 4 flash flood, 3 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
May 2002HailLittlefield$250,000Spotters with the Littlefield FD reported golfball to baseball size hail in town.
June 2016Thunderstorm WindLittlefield$100,000A trained spotter in Littlefield measured a gust to 75 mph with an anemometer mounted on top of his barn. Furthermore, numerous power poles were downed to the east and south of Littlefield due to high winds.
June 2002HailLittlefield$100,000The Littlefield PD reported golfball size hail.
May 2001HailLittlefield$100,000Storm spotters reported golfball size hail. The wind-driven hail devastated crops.
July 2004Thunderstorm WindLittlefield$50,000Strong thunderstorm wind damaged the roof of a shopping plaza in town.
May 2001HailLittlefield$50,000Amateur radio storm spotters reported golfball size hail.
December 1993Thunderstorm WindLittlefield$50,000no account filed
June 2000HailLittlefield$25,000Large hail destroyed several thousand acres of cotton.
June 2000HailLittlefield$25,000Large hail destroyed several thousand acres of cotton.
May 2008Thunderstorm WindLittlefield$20,000A swath of severe winds accompanied a complex of thunderstorms over central and northeastern portions of Lamb County during the evening hours of the 25th. A 59 mph wind gust was initially recorded by the Texas Tech University West Texas Mesonet site near Amherst at 17:50 CST. A wind gust up to 66 mph also was recorded by the Texas Tech University West Texas Mesonet south of Olton at 18:35 CST. Local officials and newspapers additionally reported light damage in the city of Littlefield. A fence was blown down at the Littlefield High School, and a roof was partially blown off of a building. Several power lines also were blown down. Widespread blowing dust also accompanied the winds.
March 2007Thunderstorm WindLittlefield$20,000Law enforcement officials reported that thunderstorm winds downed power lines in the Earth and Littlefield vicinities. The Texas Tech University West Texas Mesonet site south of Olton additionally recorded a severe thunderstorm wind gust of 60 mph as the storms quickly moved northeastward through northeastern Lamb County. |
June 1997Thunderstorm WindLittlefield$20,000no account filed
April 1999Thunderstorm WindLittlefield$15,000Strong wind blew the roof off a business.
May 2019Flash FloodLittlefield$10,000For the second day in a row, repeated rounds of torrential rainfall from thunderstorms caused a home of a NWS cooperative weather observer to be partially inundated by flood waters. Furthermore, the Sheriff's Office in Lamb County reported that Farm to Market Road 1072 through Fieldton was flooded. A storm chaser also observed 6 to 12 inches of water flowing over Farm to Market Road 168 approximately one mile north of Spade.
June 2003Thunderstorm WindLittlefield$10,000Strong thunderstorm wind blew down trees and power poles.
April 2002Thunderstorm WindLittlefield$10,000Strong wind uprooted trees and blew the roof off of a trailer home.
May 2002Thunderstorm WindLittlefield$10,000Thunderstorm outflow blew the roof off of a house and downed power lines and power poles northwest of town. This damage may have been the result of a strong gustnado that developed on the leading edge of the outflow.
June 2000Flash FloodLittlefield$10,000Several streets were flooded and cars were stranded in the high water. Flooding destroyed several hundred acres of cotton.
August 1999Thunderstorm WindLittlefield$10,000Strong wind destroyed a steel barn. Debris from the barn damaged a nearby trailer.
June 2003Thunderstorm WindLittlefield$5,000Strong thunderstorm wind downed power poles.
September 2001Thunderstorm WindLittlefield$5,000Strong thunderstorm wind blew down power lines, snapped power poles, and produced minor damage to the roofs of buildings.
May 1995Thunderstorm WindLittlefield$5,000no account filed
May 2019Flash FloodLittlefield$3,000Torrential rainfall over a period of two hours caused minor inundation of a home of a NWS cooperative weather observer.
March 1993HailLittlefield$50The Lamb County Sheriff's Office reported golfball-size hail near the Spade community in southeastern Lamb County. No significant damage was reported.
April 2026HailLittlefield-Local broadcast media relayed a report of quarter size hail in the town of Littlefield.
April 2025HailLittlefield-A public report was received of tennis ball size hail north of Littlefield near the intersection of Farm to Market Road 2197 and US Highway 385. No damage was reported.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindLittlefield-Law enforcement in Lamb County reported several power poles blown down in the city of Littlefield.
April 2019HailLittlefield-Damage was not known.
December 2018HailLittlefield-No damage was reported.
May 2017HailLittlefield-No damage was reported.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindLittlefield-Intense straight line winds accompanied hail as great as 4 inches in diameter.
May 2015HailLittlefield-The Littlefield sheriff's office reported hail up to quarter size southeast of town. No damage was reported.
June 2014HailLittlefield-The public estimated quarter size hail four miles northwest of Littlefield. No damage was reported.
May 2013HailLittlefield-A citizen reported golf ball size hail at a golf course north of Littlefield.
April 2012HailLittlefield-A left splitting storm from the Hockley County supercell moved northeast and produced golfball size hail in Littlefield. No reports of damage were received.
March 2012HailLittlefield-A postal employee estimated nickel size hail near Littlefield.
May 2010HailLittlefield-Skywarn spotters reported pea to nickel size hail just south of Littlefield just before 16:15 CST.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindLittlefield-The public reported thunderstorm wind gusts estimated in excess of 60 mph along U.S. Highway 84 southeast of Littlefield. No damage was reported, but visibility was reported to be near zero in blowing dust.
June 2009HailLittlefield-The public reported penny to nickel size hail along a stretch of U.S. Highway 385 south of Littlefield.
April 2008HailLittlefield-Penny size hail was reported in Littlefield at 10:00 CST.
April 2007Tornado (EF0)Littlefield-A weak tornado developed over open fields in southwestern Lamb County just west of Littlefield. The tornado remained south of U.S. Highway 84 and was photographed by at least two storm chasers. The tornado appeared as a slowly rotating dust whirl with no evidence of a visible condensation funnel. No reports of damage were received. This was the first in a family of five tornadoes that were observed in association with this cyclic supercell storm.
June 2007Tornado (EF0)Littlefield-Veteran storm chasers and Skywarn spotters observed at least one tornado as it intermittently developed, dissipated, and reformed over extreme southern Lamb County south of Littlefield. The tornado remained over open country east of U.S. Highway 385 and crossed into northern Hockley County at 21:40 CST. Eyewitness accounts describe that the tornado went through a Wizard of Oz-like phase when its movement was erratic as it roped out north of Whitharral. Radar data indicates that the tornado was associated with a deeply occluded mesocyclone within a weakening supercell storm.
June 2007HailLittlefield-A storm chaser reported nickel size hail just west of Littlefield.
September 2007HailLittlefield-Newspaper articles reported that hail damaged cotton crops across southeastern Lamb County during the afternoon hours of the 26th. At least 400 acres of cotton were beaten up south of Littlefield. Reports indicated that many leaves were stripped from the cotton plants by hail estimated up to one inch in diameter. In addition to hail, strong winds accompanied the storm, and were sufficient to break small tree limbs at a farmstead south of Littlefield.
May 2006HailLittlefield-The Littlefield Police Department reported large hail up to the size of nickels along U.S. Highway 385 from north of the city to six miles southeast of Littlefield.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindLittlefield-Measured by KLBK-TV media storm chaser hand-held anemometer.
June 2005HailLittlefield-Hail duration was 6 to 8 minutes and covered the ground.
May 2003Tornado (F0)Littlefield-The Lamb County Sheriff's Office reported a tornado over open country.
October 2003HailLittlefield-Amateur radio storm spotters reported golfball size hail.
October 2003HailLittlefield-Storm spotters reported golfball size hail.
May 2002HailLittlefield-The Lamb County Sheriff's Office reported golfball size hail.
May 2001HailLittlefield-Amateur radio storm spotters reported dime size hail.
May 2001HailLittlefield-An off-duty NWS meteorologist reported dime size hail.
May 2001HailLittlefield-An off-duty NWS meteorologist reported golfball size hail.
May 2001Thunderstorm WindLittlefield-A 63 mph wind gust was measured by the USDA meteorological tower near Yellow Lake on the Lamb/Hockley County line.
May 2001Thunderstorm WindLittlefield-Strong thunderstorm wind blew down trees.
May 2001HailLittlefield-Storm spotters reported golfball size hail.
May 2001HailLittlefield-Amateur radio storm spotters reported golfball size hail. The wind-driven hail devastated crops.
August 2001HailLittlefield-Law enforcement officials reported golfball size hail.
June 2000Flash FloodLittlefield-Streets were flooded in town after three to five inches of rain fell in the area. Flooding destroyed hundreds of acres of cotton.

Every storm recorded in Lamb 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
Lums Chapel5.8 miles7
Bainer5.9 miles9
Cofferville6.5 miles9
Amherst8.0 miles9
Spade9.1 miles9
Fieldton10.0 miles9
Beck11.6 miles7
Hart Camp11.8 miles9

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 LittlefieldAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q202736The 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 1361517. 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.