Kalama, Washington
13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1921 and the latest in 1990. It stands in the Kalama census division. It lies in ZIP code area 98625. The Survey maps it on the Kalama quadrangle. 2,959 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 39 feet above sea level.
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 13 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.
- 1921 USGS Kalama quadrangle1:62500
- 1953 USGS Hoquiam quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1953 USGS Kalama quadrangle1:24000, 5 printings
- 1957 USGS Hoquiam quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Hoquiam quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS Hoquiam quadrangle1:250000
- 1990 USGS Kalama quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
129 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 129 fires within 5 miles of Kalama between 1992 and 2020, burning about 162 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 9 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 burning | 44 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 27 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 17 |
| Smoking | 11 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 9 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 8 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 3 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 3 |
| Natural | 2 |
| Other causes | 2 |
| Fireworks | 2 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 1998 | Smoking | under an acre | Columbia City Unit | NICOLAI ROAD #1 |
| 6 September 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Washington State Department of Natural Resources Headquarters | EMERALD 2 |
| 6 September 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 1.5 acres | Washington State Department of Natural Resources Headquarters | not named |
| 4 September 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Washington State Department of Natural Resources Headquarters | MILE POST 35 |
| 4 September 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 3.0 acres | Washington State Department of Natural Resources Headquarters | not named |
| 4 September 2000 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Columbia City Unit | NICOLAI RD #1 |
| 30 September 2012 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Washington State Department of Natural Resources Headquarters | CAMPERS HOLE |
| 3 September 1997 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Washington State Department of Natural Resources Headquarters | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 32 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 32 workings within 5 miles of Kalama: 24 past producers, 7 producers, 1 unknown. 7 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Stone, Stone, Dimension. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia West Quarry | Stone, Dimension | Producer | ||
| Babler Bros. | Stone | Past Producer | ||
| Bob Walker Pit | Stone | Past Producer | ||
| Goble Quarry | Stone | Past Producer | ||
| Grahm Pit & Plant | Stone | Past Producer | ||
| Longview Fiber | Stone | Past Producer | ||
| Mcatee | Stone | Past Producer | ||
| Tide Creek Rock | Stone | Past Producer | ||
| Babler Bros. | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Goble Pit | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer |
Storms near this place
5 since 2003Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Kalama in 5 storm reports between 2003 and 2019: 1 hail, 1 tornado, 1 funnel cloud, 1 heavy rain. The reports record 1 injury. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2003 | Hail | Kalama | 1 hurt | no account filed |
| June 2004 | Tornado (F0) | Kalama | $100 | Cowlitz county dispatch received several reports of a tornado that touched down on the Oregon side of the Columbia River, crossed the river to the mouth of the Kalama River as a waterspout, and moved onshore on the Washington side as a tornado. The tornado reportedly knocked down a tree on the Washington side before it dissipated. |
| February 2019 | Flood | Kalama | - | Both ramps of I-5 northbound at Kalama exit 30 were closed and under water. Many other roads in the area were under water. Rain and runoff also created problems for Kalamas water treatment plant, prompting the city to shut the plant down due to high turbidity from slides along Kalama River Road. |
| March 2017 | Heavy Rain | Kalama | - | Heavy rain caused a landslide on Kalama River Road near Italian Creek Road, closing the road in both directions. |
| July 2016 | Funnel Cloud | Kalama | - | A funnel cloud was observed by a NWS Employee from Interstate 5 near Kalama, Washington. |
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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carrolls | 4.5 miles | 13 | |
| Vision Acres | 5.6 miles | 13 | |
| Rose Valley | 6.2 miles | 13 | |
| Longview Junction | 7.0 miles | 12 | |
| Caples | 7.5 miles | 18 | |
| Caples Landing | 7.5 miles | 18 | |
| Woodland | 8.9 miles | 14 | |
| Davis Terrace | 9.1 miles | 11 |
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 Kalama | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1516195 | 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 1512340. 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.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
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.






