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Onalaska, Texas

13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the Livingston-Onalaska census division. It lies in ZIP code area 77360. It stands on Sandy Creek. The Survey maps it on the Onalaska quadrangle. 3,020 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 177 feet above sea level.

Onalaska within Polk County

Population over time

2 figures

Onalaska grew from 1,764 to 3,020 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
20101,764
20203,020+1,256 (+71%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 13 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

56 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 56 fires within 5 miles of Onalaska between 1993 and 2017, burning about 345 acres in total. 4 started naturally. 6 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
Debris and open burning30
Missing data/not specified/undetermined8
Arson/incendiarism6
Smoking4
Natural4
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Misuse of fire by a minor1
Fireworks1

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
29 September 2000Debris and open burning3.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceCONROE - 429
26 September 2002Debris and open burning5.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceWOODVILLE - 201
24 September 1993Debris and open burning2.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Servicenot named
20 September 1999Debris and open burning3.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Servicenot named
12 September 2013Fireworks3.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Service8071
11 September 1993Debris and open burning2.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Servicenot named
31 August 2002Debris and open burning1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceWOODVILLE - 190
30 August 2012Debris and open burning1.0 acresLivingston AreaLIVINGSTON - 8060

Every fire recorded in Polk County

Storms near this place

33 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Onalaska in 33 storm reports between 1994 and 2024: 14 hail, 9 thunderstorm wind, 3 tornado, 3 funnel cloud. The reports record 3 deaths and 33 injuries. 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 2020Tornado (EF3)Onalaska3 killed, 33 hurt, $5,000,000Tornado touched down on the eastern shore of Lake Livingston, just NW of Onalaska then moved SE across the town then ESE across Polk County. Some of the most significant damage was in Paradise Acres area of Onalaska. Winds possibly reached 140 mph as the storm moved across this location, which was the only EF3 damage the NWS could confirm along the 30 mile track. The tornado killed three and injured 33 in Onalaska with 291 homes affected and 46 destroyed. It was estimated to be about 500 yards wide as it moved across the town. The tornado continued a general east-|northeastward track across rural Polk county where it snapped and uprooted numerous hardwood and softwood trees and intermittently damaged structures. The tornado path was measured at just over a half-mile wide as it crossed Highway 59 near Seven Oaks, where EF2 damage was surveyed with destruction of two mobile homes and |damage to hardwood trees. The tornado remained in rural areas until it ended very close to Barnes in northeast Polk county. Near the end of the track, a large tree destroyed a mobile home and miraculously just missed a man who was sitting at his computer. He was not seriously injured. For historical context, this was the deadliest single tornado for the NWS Houston-Galveston forecast area since Nov 15th, 1987 when a tornado also killed three in Madison County. The deadliest tornado on record for this area is the F4 in Galveston which killed 8 during Hurricane Carla in 1961. This is only the 8th multiple-fatality tornado for counties served by our office since 1950.
August 2017Flash FloodOnalaska$300,000,000There was high flood water on roads FM 3126 and FM 356 along the eastern shore of Lake Livingston.||The lowest homes and businesses within close vicinity of the lake, Trinity River and Long King Creek flooded. Roads along the southern end of Lake Livingston such as FM 3278 were inaccessible, FM 3128 and FM 1988 near Long King Creek were flooded. Major lowland flooding occurred on the Trinity River near Goodrich.
May 2024FloodOnalaska$3,100,000Flooding from numerous heavy rain events in April and early May led to significant damage.
August 2005HailOnalaska$50,000Golfball hail on and around Lake Livingston and Onalaska.
April 2004HailOnalaska$50,000Ping Pong ball-size hail covering ground.
July 2004Thunderstorm WindOnalaska$40,000Partial removal of a nightclub roof on east side of Lake Livingston at Sunset Cove.
April 2004HailOnalaska$30,000Golfball-size hail in Onalaska.
October 2001Tornado (F1)Onalaska$25,000Spotter reported a tornado flipped a trailer over and off its foundation on FM 356.
March 2018Thunderstorm WindOnalaska$20,000Numerous trees were downed on homes and surrounding structures, including power lines.
August 2005Thunderstorm WindOnalaska$15,000no account filed
March 2003Thunderstorm WindOnalaska$10,000Barge damage and several overturned boats on Lake Livingston.
August 2006HailOnalaska$8,000Quarter size hail.
February 2003HailOnalaska$5,0003/4 inch hail.
June 1997Thunderstorm WindOnalaska$5,000Trees blown down in Onalaska along HWY 190
December 1997Thunderstorm WindOnalaska$5,000Large trees blown onto powerlines.
May 1994HailOnalaska$5,000Golf ball-sized hail reported in Northern Polk County.
April 1997HailOnalaska$5,000no account filed
April 1997HailOnalaska$5,000no account filed
February 1999HailOnalaska$3,000no account filed
November 1995HailOnalaska$3,000no account filed
April 2011Tornado (EF0)Onalaska$1,000An EF0 tornado caused little damage at Walkers Waterfront.
May 2009Flash FloodOnalaska$1,000Roads were reported flooded along FM 350 near Bear Creek.
April 1995HailOnalaska$1,000Reported by the Polk County Sheriffs Office.
May 2019HailOnalaska-Golf ball sized hail was reported.
May 2019HailOnalaska-Tennis to softball sized hail was reported.
May 2015HailOnalaska-Penny sized hail was reported to the northeast of Onalaska.
May 2015Thunderstorm WindOnalaska-Thunderstorm wind gusts downed some trees.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindOnalaska-Trees were blown down in Onalaska.
October 2009Flash FloodOnalaska-One lane of FM 356 closed due to high water.
May 2006Funnel CloudOnalaska-Three separate waterspouts on Lake Livingston.
June 2004Funnel CloudOnalaska-Funnel cloud sighted at Big Bridge over Lake Livingston.
October 2004Thunderstorm WindOnalaska-Tree down
May 2003Funnel CloudOnalaska-Funnel Cloud.

Every storm recorded in Polk 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
West Tempe5.2 miles13
Tobacco Patch5.7 miles12
Blanchard5.7 miles12
Patonia5.9 miles13
Bold Springs7.2 miles13
Tigerville7.5 miles12
Colita7.8 miles12
Moore Hill9.1 miles12

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 OnalaskaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q981987The 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 1364545. 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.