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
Population over time
3 figuresRule 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 698 | |
| 2010 | 636 | -62 (-9%) |
| 2020 | 561 | -75 (-12%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 8 printed sheetsMatched 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.
- 1925 USGS Haskell 3-b quadrangle1:48000
- 1954 USGS Wichita Falls quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Wichita Falls quadrangle1:250000
- 1968 USGS Rule quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Haskell quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
42 since 2005Regional 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/undetermined | 14 |
| Debris and open burning | 11 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 5 |
| Natural | 4 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 4 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 3 |
| Smoking | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 September 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | TURNER PIVOT FIRE |
| 4 September 2010 | Natural | 30 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | CIRCLE C FARMS (RULE) |
| 24 September 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | not named |
| 6 August 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | JUD HIGHWAY BAR DITCH FIRE |
| 3 August 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | not named |
| 26 August 2006 | Natural | 45 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | not named |
| 16 August 2015 | Debris and open burning | 10 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | EASTERLING COTTON FIRE |
| 15 August 2015 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | COLE HOUSE TRASH PIT |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
60 of 69 shownRegional 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2009 | Tornado (EF2) | Rule | $1,000,000 | A 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 2005 | Flash Flood | Rule | $200,000 | Another round of showers and thunderstorms on already saturated ground produced additional flooding in the community of Rule and flooded some homes. |
| April 2003 | Hail | Rule | $100,000 | Hail to the size of soft balls produced severe damage to vehicles. One horse was killed and trees were stripped of limbs. |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rule | $15,000 | Drive-in theater destroyed |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rule | $5,000 | An electric substation was damaged and several utility poles were blown down. |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rule | $2,000 | A hotel suffered extensive roof damage |
| May 2003 | Tornado (F0) | Rule | $1,000 | A 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 2025 | Hail | Rule | - | Public reported quarter size hail. |
| May 2025 | Hail | Rule | - | Public reported ping pong ball size hail. |
| April 2024 | Hail | Rule | - | The public reported 2 inch diameter hail in Rule. |
| April 2024 | Hail | Rule | - | Public reported quarter size hail. |
| April 2024 | Hail | Rule | - | Public reported half dollar size hail. |
| April 2024 | Hail | Rule | - | Public reported half dollar size hail. |
| April 2024 | Flash Flood | Rule | - | 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 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rule | - | The public reported a wind gust of 58 mph in Rule. |
| May 2023 | Hail | Rule | - | The report was from mping. |
| September 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rule | - | A trained NWS spotter reported a wind gust of 60 mph in Rule. |
| October 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rule | - | Also, there were reported wind gusts between 40 and 58 mph in Rule. |
| April 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rule | - | A member of the public estimated wind speeds of at least 60 mph and a sustained wind squall for about 5 minutes. |
| August 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rule | - | An outbuilding and a chicken coop were destroyed by the damaging thunderstorm winds. The public estimated 60 to 70 mph wind gusts. |
| June 2020 | Hail | Rule | - | The report was from mPING. |
| September 2018 | Flash Flood | Rule | - | Water flooded U.S. Highway 380 east of Rule and Texas Highway 6 just south of Rule. |
| May 2012 | Hail | Rule | - | The public reported ping pong ball size hail just north of Rule. |
| May 2009 | Tornado (EF0) | Rule | - | A trained spotter reported a brief tornado touchdown in an open field. |
| June 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rule | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts from 60 to 70 mph were reported. |
| June 2009 | Flash Flood | Rule | - | The Texas Department of Transportation reported water over Highway 6 from U.S. Highway 380 in Rule, to 5 miles south. |
| May 2009 | Hail | Rule | - | Tea cup size hail was reported on the ground. |
| April 2007 | Tornado (EF0) | Rule | - | Eyewitness reported a tornado briefly skipping across Highway 6 near Rule. No damage was noted. |
| May 2004 | Flash Flood | Rule | - | The public reported water flowing over the road on highway 6 between Rule and Stamford. |
| May 2001 | Hail | Rule | - | 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 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rule | - | Strong winds blew down trees. |
| May 2023 | Hail | Rule | - | no account filed |
| May 2022 | Hail | Rule | - | no account filed |
| May 2020 | Hail | Rule | - | no account filed |
| April 2020 | Hail | Rule | - | no account filed |
| April 2020 | Hail | Rule | - | no account filed |
| June 2020 | Hail | Rule | - | no account filed |
| June 2020 | Hail | Rule | - | no account filed |
| April 2016 | Hail | Rule | - | no account filed |
| April 2016 | Hail | Rule | - | no account filed |
| May 2015 | Hail | Rule | - | no account filed |
| April 2015 | Hail | Rule | - | no account filed |
| May 2011 | Hail | Rule | - | no account filed |
| April 2009 | Hail | Rule | - | no account filed |
| May 2009 | Hail | Rule | - | no account filed |
| June 2009 | Hail | Rule | - | no account filed |
| June 2009 | Hail | Rule | - | no account filed |
| May 2009 | Hail | Rule | - | no account filed |
| May 2009 | Hail | Rule | - | no account filed |
| June 2009 | Hail | Rule | - | no account filed |
| February 2008 | Hail | Rule | - | no account filed |
| May 2006 | Hail | Rule | - | no account filed |
| May 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rule | - | no account filed |
| April 2004 | Hail | Rule | - | no account filed |
| April 2004 | Hail | Rule | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Hail | Rule | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Hail | Rule | - | no account filed |
| October 2001 | Hail | Rule | - | no account filed |
| May 2000 | Hail | Rule | - | no account filed |
| May 1999 | Hail | Rule | - | no account filed |
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.
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 Rule | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q978374 | The 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.




