BlockBefore

Ratcliff, Texas

11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1950 and the latest in 2004. It stands in the Kennard-Ratcliff census division. It lies in ZIP code area 75858. The Survey maps it on the Ratcliff quadrangle. It stands 390 feet above sea level.

Ratcliff within Houston County

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 11 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

99 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 99 fires within 5 miles of Ratcliff between 1992 and 2020, burning about 549 acres in total. 6 started naturally. 20 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 burning35
Arson/incendiarism20
Missing data/not specified/undetermined13
Power generation/transmission/distribution8
Natural6
Equipment and vehicle use5
Recreation and ceremony5
Smoking3
Fireworks1
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Other causes1
Misuse of fire by a minor1

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
6 September 2005Arson/incendiarism45 acresNational Forests And Grasslands In TexasCONNER
30 September 1994Debris and open burning3.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Servicenot named
26 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Service7119
19 September 1997Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNational Forests And Grasslands In TexasSAWMILL #2
15 September 1992Arson/incendiarism12 acresNational Forests And Grasslands In Texasnot named
6 August 2015Arson/incendiarism1.5 acresNational Forests And Grasslands In Texas562 FIRE
6 August 1997Debris and open burning2.0 acresNational Forests And Grasslands In TexasSAWMILL
30 August 1999Debris and open burning11 acresNational Forests And Grasslands In TexasELM CREEK

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Houston County

Storms near this place

9 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Ratcliff in 9 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 8 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
April 1996Thunderstorm WindRatcliff$15,000no account filed
May 1997Thunderstorm WindRatcliff$5,000Trees blown down
April 2025Thunderstorm WindRatcliff-An emergency manager reported one downed tree blocking both lanes at FM 227 near CR1165, north of Ratcliff.
April 2022Thunderstorm WindRatcliff-Eight trees were downed along FM 227.
April 2019Thunderstorm WindRatcliff-A swath of trees were downed by thunderstorm winds that blocked Highway 7 west of the Neches River.
April 2019Tornado (EF0)Ratcliff-Damage path discovered at this location. May be longer. Awaiting more info from Forest Service.
July 2017Thunderstorm WindRatcliff-Trees were downed within the Davy Crockett National Forest along FM 227 between Highway 21 and Highway 7.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindRatcliff-Trees were blown down between Kennard and Ratcliff.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindRatcliff-The trees were blown down near FM 227.

Every storm recorded in Houston 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
Allen Chapel1.4 miles10
Colthorp1.7 miles10
Mount Vernon3.0 miles12
Kennard3.2 miles10
Tadmor3.2 miles11
Fog Town3.9 miles10
Plain4.4 miles12
Harrison Town4.5 miles11

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 RatcliffAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q7295510The 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 1382593. 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.