BlockBefore

Windthorst, Texas

7 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the Archer City census division. It lies in ZIP code area 76389. The Survey maps it on the Windthorst quadrangle. 342 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,033 feet above sea level.

Windthorst within Archer County

Population over time

2 figures

Windthorst fell from 409 to 342 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
2010409
2020342-67 (-16%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

4 surveys from 7 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

89 since 2006

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 89 fires within 5 miles of Windthorst between 2006 and 2020, burning about 2,002 acres in total. 12 started naturally. 2 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/undetermined25
Equipment and vehicle use23
Debris and open burning19
Natural12
Power generation/transmission/distribution7
Arson/incendiarism2
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
24 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreTexas A & M Forest ServiceFUEL FIRE
22 September 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceRAHT ROAD FIRE
16 September 2013Natural10 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceVEITENHEIMER ROAD
13 September 2013Natural200 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceS OF WINDTHORST
12 September 2017Power generation/transmission/distribution1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceCONRADY FM 174 FIRE
8 August 2018Natural30 acresTexas A & M Forest Service172 ABERNATHY FIRE
7 August 2018Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServicePENNARTZ AND PEYSAN RD FIRE
7 August 2013Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreTexas A & M Forest ServiceFM 172

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Archer County

Storms near this place

60 of 75 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Windthorst in 75 storm reports between 1993 and 2024: 55 hail, 11 thunderstorm wind, 5 tornado, 2 funnel cloud. 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 2000HailWindthorst$250,000no account filed
May 2000HailWindthorst$250,000no account filed
August 2013Thunderstorm WindWindthorst$150,000Minor structural damage in Windthorst with numerous downed trees and power lines and poles.
May 2023Flash FloodWindthorst$10,000Vehicles stranded near Windthorst.
May 2018Thunderstorm WindWindthorst$10,000The Windthorst High School gymnasium had significant roof damage from thunderstorm winds. A greenhouse was also destroyed at the school, and a nearby barbecue restaurant sustained roof damage on the southwest side of the building.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindWindthorst$1,000Thunderstorm winds uprooted trees and blew down power lines along Highway 281.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindWindthorst$500Several damaged signs and no power in town.
October 2002Thunderstorm WindWindthorst$10Large tree limbs were downed.
May 2024HailWindthorst-Relayed by amateur radio.
May 2024Tornado (EF1)Windthorst-This tornado was observed by many storm spotters and storm chasers. It developed on the northeast edge of Windthorst damaging trees along Zihlman Road. Otherwise it moved northeast crossing into Clay County just south of Veitenheimer Road.
April 2020HailWindthorst-Time estimate from radar.
June 2019Flash FloodWindthorst-Water flowing over Munchrath road.
May 2017Tornado (EFU)Windthorst-A tornado was observed southwest of Windthorst by the Windthorst Fire Department and a university chase team. No damage was reported and the location is estimated.
May 2015Tornado (EF0)Windthorst-A tornado was observed in far southeastern Archer County approximately 11 miles south of Windthorst. No damage was reported.
May 2015HailWindthorst-No damage reported.
May 2013HailWindthorst-Quarter size hail reported.
March 2013HailWindthorst-No damage information was available.
May 2011Thunderstorm WindWindthorst-Minor damage occurred along Highway 281 in Windthorst. Monetary damage estimates were not available.
July 2007Funnel CloudWindthorst-The funnel cloud was reported just west of Windthorst, lasting about 1 minute.
August 1997Tornado (F0)Windthorst-An F0 tornado touched down in an open field about 1/2 mile west of Highway 16. It was on the ground for about 3 minutes and did no reported damage.
August 1997Tornado (F0)Windthorst-An F0 tornado touched down briefly about 1/5 miles west of Highway 16. No damage was reported.
May 1994HailWindthorst-Thunderstorms in the western part of North Texas during the afternoon and evening hours on the 29th produced one tornado and hail up to baseball-size. A tornado touched down five miles southwest of Scotland at 1630 CST. This F0 tornado occurred in an open field and no damage was reported.
May 1994HailWindthorst-Thunderstorms in the western part of North Texas during the afternoon and evening hours on the 29th produced one tornado and hail up to baseball-size. A tornado touched down five miles southwest of Scotland at 1630 CST. This F0 tornado occurred in an open field and no damage was reported.
April 1994HailWindthorst-Thunderstorms in the western part of north Texas during the late morning and early afternoon hours on the 25th produced hail up to baseball size.
August 1994Thunderstorm WindWindthorst-Severe thunderstorms across Clay and Archer Counties produced hail up to golfball size and isolated wind damage. Power poles were reported downed 9 miles south of Windthorst
August 1994HailWindthorst-Severe thunderstorms across Clay and Archer Counties produced hail up to golfball size and isolated wind damage. Power poles were reported downed 9 miles south of Windthorst
August 1994HailWindthorst-Severe thunderstorms across Clay and Archer Counties produced hail up to golfball size and isolated wind damage. Power poles were reported downed 9 miles south of Windthorst
May 2017HailWindthorst-no account filed
May 2015HailWindthorst-no account filed
April 2013HailWindthorst-no account filed
April 2013HailWindthorst-no account filed
February 2012HailWindthorst-no account filed
May 2011HailWindthorst-no account filed
May 2011HailWindthorst-no account filed
March 2006HailWindthorst-no account filed
May 2006HailWindthorst-no account filed
May 2006HailWindthorst-no account filed
July 2005HailWindthorst-no account filed
July 2005HailWindthorst-no account filed
July 2005HailWindthorst-no account filed
July 2005HailWindthorst-no account filed
July 2005HailWindthorst-no account filed
July 2005Thunderstorm WindWindthorst-no account filed
June 2004HailWindthorst-no account filed
June 2004HailWindthorst-no account filed
June 2004HailWindthorst-no account filed
April 2003HailWindthorst-no account filed
June 2003HailWindthorst-no account filed
April 2002HailWindthorst-no account filed
February 2001HailWindthorst-no account filed
May 2001HailWindthorst-no account filed
May 2001HailWindthorst-no account filed
May 2001HailWindthorst-no account filed
May 2001Funnel CloudWindthorst-no account filed
May 2001HailWindthorst-no account filed
March 2000HailWindthorst-no account filed
May 2000HailWindthorst-no account filed
May 2000HailWindthorst-no account filed
May 2000HailWindthorst-no account filed
May 2000HailWindthorst-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Archer 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
Scotland6.1 miles8
Archer City10.1 miles9
Luke Wilson11.5 miles9
Anarene13.7 miles7
Dads Corner17.8 miles9
Lakeside City18.3 miles10
Hartex21.1 miles8
Holliday21.5 miles8

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 WindthorstAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q974958The 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 1371789. 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.