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De Forest, Wisconsin

24 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1890 and the latest in 1991. It stands in DeForest Village. It lies in ZIP code area 53532. The Survey maps it on the De Forest quadrangle. 10,811 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 948 feet above sea level.

De Forest within Dane County

Population over time

2 figures

De Forest grew from 8,936 to 10,811 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
20108,936
202010,811+1,875 (+21%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 surveys from 24 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

24 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 24 fires within 5 miles of De Forest between 1994 and 2020, burning about 19 acres in total. None 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/undetermined9
Debris and open burning7
Equipment and vehicle use3
Smoking2
Arson/incendiarism2
Recreation and ceremony1

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
7 September 2019Arson/incendiarismunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resources1060
22 September 2020Debris and open burningunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resources1183
5 July 2012Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural ResourcesKLEINERT ROAD
31 July 2020Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resources955
18 July 2006Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
26 June 2007Arson/incendiarismunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
16 June 2007Smokingunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
22 May 2020Smokingunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resources608

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Dane County

Mines and quarries near this place

6 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of De Forest: 6 producers. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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
Paulson Schwenn QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Francis Nordness PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Johnson PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Norway Grove PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Norway Grove PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Token Creek PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Dane County

Storms near this place

23 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names De Forest in 23 storm reports between 1997 and 2026: 12 hail, 6 thunderstorm wind, 3 funnel cloud, 1 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
April 2026Thunderstorm WindDe Forest$50,000Many trees uprooted and snapped in DeForest. Power poles and powerlines down. A tree down on a house. Roof damage and siding damage to some homes from the strong winds.
March 2019FloodDe Forest$50,000Portions of many roads flooded and closed mainly over the western half of Dane Co. More specifically, flooded roads in the deeper valleys and near creeks and the Sugar River. Large portions of highway 78 was flooded and closed and highway 69 from US 151 to near Paoli. Highway 19 was closed at the intersection with highway KP. Portions of South Point Rd. on the far west side of Madison was flooded and closed. Several streets and adjacent yards in De Forest were flooded by the Yahara River. Voluntary evacuations occurred in De Forest.
June 2019Thunderstorm WindDe Forest$2,000Large branches down in DeForest.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindDe Forest$2,000no account filed
May 2024Thunderstorm WindDe Forest$500A large tree snapped at its base.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindDe Forest-Estimated wind gust of 58 mph.
February 2017HailDe Forest-Hail Covering the ground.
June 2010Funnel CloudDe Forest-Law enforcement officials reported a funnel cloud over De Forest. The time is estimated from radar imagery.
May 2004Tornado (F0)De Forest-A tornado spun up 1.2 miles southeast of DeForest (Dane Co.) around 1759 CST, and dissipated around 1804 CST, 1.9 miles east of De Forest (Dane Co.). Specifically, it spun up just northeast of the intersection of STH 51 and Vinburn Rd. and ended about 0.1 mile southwest of the intersection of Mueller Rd. and Portage Rd. The tornado's path was 1.3 miles long and 25 yards wide. No damage was reported and this tornado was determined to be an F0. Average width was about 25 yards.
April 2025HailDe Forest-no account filed
April 2025HailDe Forest-no account filed
April 2025HailDe Forest-no account filed
September 2022HailDe Forest-no account filed
May 2017HailDe Forest-no account filed
May 2017HailDe Forest-no account filed
September 2016HailDe Forest-no account filed
April 2011HailDe Forest-no account filed
May 2006HailDe Forest-no account filed
March 2005Funnel CloudDe Forest-no account filed
May 2004Thunderstorm WindDe Forest-no account filed
May 2003HailDe Forest-no account filed
June 1998HailDe Forest-no account filed
July 1997Funnel CloudDe Forest-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
Windsor2.0 miles24
Morrisonville2.2 miles12
Lake Windsor3.0 miles24
Norway Grove3.1 miles24
Token Creek4.5 miles24
Raintree4.6 miles24
Wynbrooke4.9 miles24
Foxmoor Hills5.6 miles24

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 De ForestAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2335698The 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 1563756. 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.