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Rule, Texas

8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1925 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the Rule census division. It lies in ZIP code area 79547. The Survey maps it on the Rule quadrangle. 561 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,680 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Rule within Haskell County

Population over time

3 figures

Rule fell from 698 to 561 between 2000 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
2000698
2010636-62 (-9%)
2020561-75 (-12%)

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

42 since 2005

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 42 fires within 5 miles of Rule between 2005 and 2017, burning about 900 acres in total. 4 started naturally. 4 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/undetermined14
Debris and open burning11
Equipment and vehicle use5
Natural4
Arson/incendiarism4
Power generation/transmission/distribution3
Smoking1

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
4 September 2015Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceTURNER PIVOT FIRE
4 September 2010Natural30 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceCIRCLE C FARMS (RULE)
24 September 2007Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Servicenot named
6 August 2016Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceJUD HIGHWAY BAR DITCH FIRE
3 August 2006Missing data/not specified/undetermined30 acresTexas A & M Forest Servicenot named
26 August 2006Natural45 acresTexas A & M Forest Servicenot named
16 August 2015Debris and open burning10 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceEASTERLING COTTON FIRE
15 August 2015Debris and open burning3.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceCOLE HOUSE TRASH PIT

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Haskell County

Storms near this place

60 of 69 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Rule in 69 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 46 hail, 13 thunderstorm wind, 6 flash flood, 4 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
June 2009Tornado (EF2)Rule$1,000,000A National Weather Service survey team found a quarter mile wide EF2 tornado that tore the roof off of four homes and desroyed several outbuildings, irrigation sprinklers, and power poles.
August 2005Flash FloodRule$200,000Another round of showers and thunderstorms on already saturated ground produced additional flooding in the community of Rule and flooded some homes.
April 2003HailRule$100,000Hail to the size of soft balls produced severe damage to vehicles. One horse was killed and trees were stripped of limbs.
May 1998Thunderstorm WindRule$15,000Drive-in theater destroyed
May 1998Thunderstorm WindRule$5,000An electric substation was damaged and several utility poles were blown down.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindRule$2,000A hotel suffered extensive roof damage
May 2003Tornado (F0)Rule$1,000A brief tornado touchdown was reported near the community of Rule. A car passing by at the time was damaged due to debris hitting the car.
May 2025HailRule-Public reported quarter size hail.
May 2025HailRule-Public reported ping pong ball size hail.
April 2024HailRule-The public reported 2 inch diameter hail in Rule.
April 2024HailRule-Public reported quarter size hail.
April 2024HailRule-Public reported half dollar size hail.
April 2024HailRule-Public reported half dollar size hail.
April 2024Flash FloodRule-Emergency management reported that US 380 was closed due to flooding between Rule and FM 2407. The road was still closed on the morning of 4/28.
February 2023Thunderstorm WindRule-The public reported a wind gust of 58 mph in Rule.
May 2023HailRule-The report was from mping.
September 2023Thunderstorm WindRule-A trained NWS spotter reported a wind gust of 60 mph in Rule.
October 2022Thunderstorm WindRule-Also, there were reported wind gusts between 40 and 58 mph in Rule.
April 2021Thunderstorm WindRule-A member of the public estimated wind speeds of at least 60 mph and a sustained wind squall for about 5 minutes.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindRule-An outbuilding and a chicken coop were destroyed by the damaging thunderstorm winds. The public estimated 60 to 70 mph wind gusts.
June 2020HailRule-The report was from mPING.
September 2018Flash FloodRule-Water flooded U.S. Highway 380 east of Rule and Texas Highway 6 just south of Rule.
May 2012HailRule-The public reported ping pong ball size hail just north of Rule.
May 2009Tornado (EF0)Rule-A trained spotter reported a brief tornado touchdown in an open field.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindRule-Thunderstorm wind gusts from 60 to 70 mph were reported.
June 2009Flash FloodRule-The Texas Department of Transportation reported water over Highway 6 from U.S. Highway 380 in Rule, to 5 miles south.
May 2009HailRule-Tea cup size hail was reported on the ground.
April 2007Tornado (EF0)Rule-Eyewitness reported a tornado briefly skipping across Highway 6 near Rule. No damage was noted.
May 2004Flash FloodRule-The public reported water flowing over the road on highway 6 between Rule and Stamford.
May 2001HailRule-Hail up to the size of golf balls fell in the community of Rule for at least 15 minutes, as a severe storm remained nearly stationary across western Haskell County.
June 1997Thunderstorm WindRule-Strong winds blew down trees.
May 2023HailRule-no account filed
May 2022HailRule-no account filed
May 2020HailRule-no account filed
April 2020HailRule-no account filed
April 2020HailRule-no account filed
June 2020HailRule-no account filed
June 2020HailRule-no account filed
April 2016HailRule-no account filed
April 2016HailRule-no account filed
May 2015HailRule-no account filed
April 2015HailRule-no account filed
May 2011HailRule-no account filed
April 2009HailRule-no account filed
May 2009HailRule-no account filed
June 2009HailRule-no account filed
June 2009HailRule-no account filed
May 2009HailRule-no account filed
May 2009HailRule-no account filed
June 2009HailRule-no account filed
February 2008HailRule-no account filed
May 2006HailRule-no account filed
May 2005Thunderstorm WindRule-no account filed
April 2004HailRule-no account filed
April 2004HailRule-no account filed
May 2004HailRule-no account filed
May 2004HailRule-no account filed
October 2001HailRule-no account filed
May 2000HailRule-no account filed
May 1999HailRule-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Haskell 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
Pinkerton2.9 miles8
Sagerton8.1 miles7
Jud8.4 miles7
Haskell8.7 miles7
Rochester9.3 miles7
Josselet10.6 miles7
Plainview11.9 miles7
O'Brien13.8 miles7

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 RuleAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q978374The 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 1366999. 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.