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Cross Plains, Wisconsin

16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1907 and the latest in 1991. It stands in Cross Plains Village. It lies in ZIP code area 53528. The Survey maps it on the Cross Plains quadrangle. 4,104 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 938 feet above sea level.

Cross Plains within Dane County

Population over time

2 figures

Cross Plains grew from 3,538 to 4,104 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
20103,538
20204,104+566 (+16%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 16 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

46 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 46 fires within 5 miles of Cross Plains between 1992 and 2020, burning about 57 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 3 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 burning27
Missing data/not specified/undetermined6
Equipment and vehicle use5
Arson/incendiarism3
Recreation and ceremony2
Natural1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
Railroad operations and maintenance1

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
29 August 2019Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resources19429
25 July 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resources18-2833
17 July 2012Equipment and vehicle use8.5 acresWisconsin Department of Natural ResourcesWHIPPORWILL
8 May 2018Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresWisconsin Department of Natural Resources1800046
4 May 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resources1800044
27 May 2008Arson/incendiarism1.2 acresWisconsin Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
16 May 1992Debris and open burningunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
13 May 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resources2000044

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Dane County

Mines and quarries near this place

5 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Cross Plains: 3 producers, 2 past producers. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Limestone, 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Capitol SandSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Valley Hites QuarryLimestone, DimensionPast Producer
Boehnen Inc. Hollefelder QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Middleton-Watson QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Zander QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer

Every working recorded in Dane County

Storms near this place

31 since 2002

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Cross Plains in 31 storm reports between 2002 and 2026: 13 hail, 11 thunderstorm wind, 3 lightning, 2 funnel cloud. The reports record 2 injuries. 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
August 2018LightningCross Plains2 hurtTwo firefighters responding to a structure fire were indirectly struck by lightning near Cross Plains. Minor injuries occurred.
September 2010HailCross Plains$1,000,000Trained spotters reported a 1 to 2 mile-wide swath of damage from hail showers that extended from north of Dodgeville, near Cross Plains, to just east northeast of Monona, dissipating near Interstate 90. Hundreds of vehicles were damaged; many homes had siding, window and screen damage; many trees were stripped of their leaves.
August 2018LightningCross Plains$500,000A home was a complete loss due to a fire from a lightning strike.
April 2026Thunderstorm WindCross Plains$40,000Numerous trees snapped, uprooted, or downed on the north side of Cross Plains. Powerlines also down. Trees down on vehicles and homes.
June 2010Tornado (EF1)Cross Plains$15,000A brief EF1 tornado spun up within the city of Cross Plains between Julius Street and Sylvia Pine Way and moved northeast to near the intersection of Caesar Street and Woodside Drive and dissipated. At least 3 homes had minor roof damage. A number of large trees were uprooted or broken in half. An in-ground basketball pole was bent to a 45 degree angle. Roof soffit and fascia siding was peeled off a municipal pool house. The severe thunderstorm become outflow dominated and resulted in straight line wind damage (trees) further northeast over rural areas northeast Cross Plains. some crop damage was seen, but loss estimates were unavailable. The exact start location was Lat. 43.114895 Lon. -89.647946. The exact end location was Lat. 43.11522 Lon. -89.645138. The EF-rating was based on DI 2 (TH), DOD 4 which suggests wind speeds between 90 and 100 mph. Average path width was 20 yards.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindCross Plains$10,000Powerful thunderstorm wind gusts toppled several large trees and broke branches that brought down some power-lines.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindCross Plains$6,000A tree down on a house. Other reports of small branches and power lines down in the area.
July 2015Thunderstorm WindCross Plains$3,000Branches and power lines down.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindCross Plains$2,000Trees and power lines down in the Cross Plains area.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindCross Plains$2,000Several trees down.
May 2014LightningCross Plains$1,500A lightning strike caused a tree to ignite and a power line was also downed.
July 2022Thunderstorm WindCross Plains$1,000A large tree uprooted.
April 2026HailCross Plains-Trained spotter reports 2 inch diameter hail near Cross Plains.
July 2021Tornado (EF1)Cross Plains-This was 1 of 17 tornadoes to occur in Wisconsin on the night of July 28th into the early morning hours of July 29th. This was the 7th overall tornado for the event.|A line of storms developed in northern Wisconsin and pushed south into southern Wisconsin in the overnight hours of the 28th into the 29th of July with mainly brief tornadoes and damaging winds occurring. ||This tornado began to the east of Cross Plains, tracked south across Highway 14 toward Cross Plains State Park where it ended up on south side of the park. The main tree damage was between Highway 14 and Stagecoach Rd southeast of Cross Plains near Black Earth Creek.
September 2016HailCross Plains-A swath of hail damage to crops from Cross Plains to Middleton.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindCross Plains-NWS survey team found numerous trees blown down by straight-line thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at 65 knots (75 mph).
June 2007HailCross Plains-In addition to the hail, estimated thunderstorm wind gusts to about 43 knots (50 mph) were reported.
July 2006Thunderstorm WindCross Plains-Large trees and tree limbs down.
April 2002HailCross Plains-Isolated severe thunderstorm. Severe weather spotter trailing the storm noted some cloud base rotation and a in-flow/feeder cloud band underneath the updraft tower.
October 2023HailCross Plains-no account filed
July 2017HailCross Plains-no account filed
September 2016HailCross Plains-no account filed
November 2010HailCross Plains-no account filed
June 2010HailCross Plains-no account filed
August 2007HailCross Plains-no account filed
June 2007Funnel CloudCross Plains-no account filed
August 2006HailCross Plains-no account filed
August 2006HailCross Plains-no account filed
May 2003Funnel CloudCross Plains-no account filed
May 2003Thunderstorm WindCross Plains-no account filed
August 2002Thunderstorm WindCross Plains-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Dane 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
Pine Bluff3.7 miles16
Black Earth5.1 miles15
Marxville5.3 miles15
Martinsville5.7 miles15
West Middleton5.8 miles17
Klevenville6.2 miles16
Ashton6.3 miles15
Riley6.5 miles17

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 Cross PlainsAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2085810The 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 1563557. 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.