Onalaska, Wisconsin
17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1927 and the latest in 1993. It stands in Onalaska City. It lies in ZIP code area 54650. It lies near Bell Island. The Survey maps it on the Onalaska quadrangle. 18,803 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 656 feet above sea level.
On record in Onalaska
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 2 records
Frank Eugene Nichols Houselisted 1993- La Crosse County School of Agriculture and Domestic Economylisted 1987
Population over time
2 figuresOnalaska grew from 17,736 to 18,803 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 17,736 | |
| 2020 | 18,803 | +1,067 (+6%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
11 surveys from 17 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.
- 1927 USGS La Crosse quadrangle1:62500
- 1930 USGS La Crosse quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS La Crosse quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1961 USGS La Crosse quadrangle1:250000
- 1963 USGS La Crosse quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1963 USGS Onalaska quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1965 USGS La Crosse quadrangle1:250000
- 1976 USGS La Crosse quadrangle1:250000
- 1984 USGS La Crosse quadrangle1:100000
- 1990 USGS La Crosse quadrangle1:100000
- 1993 USGS Onalaska quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
29 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 29 fires within 5 miles of Onalaska between 1992 and 2020, burning about 12 acres in total. None 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 | 10 |
| Debris and open burning | 6 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 4 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 2 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2003 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | LaCrosse District, Upper Mississippi National Wildlife Refuge | PAMMEL CREEK FIRE |
| 2 September 2019 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 1900058 |
| 14 August 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 2003958 |
| 5 July 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 2003248 |
| 31 July 1992 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 29 July 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 1807990 |
| 4 June 2019 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 19-0479 |
| 29 June 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
3 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Onalaska: 3 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lacrosse County Highway Dept. Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Bucklin Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Kedhara Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
51 since 1995Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Onalaska in 51 storm reports between 1995 and 2024: 23 thunderstorm wind, 21 hail, 2 flood, 2 lightning. 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 2011 | Flood | Onalaska | $65,000 | A house that was built on a sunken lot had a basement wall collapse after four inches of rain fell on the area. In addition to the basement damage, the master bedroom and bathroom, laundry room and living room were ruined. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Onalaska | $45,000 | Amateur radio groups reported numerous trees and power lines down in Onalaska. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Onalaska | $45,000 | The public reported downed trees and power outages in Onalaska. |
| August 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Onalaska | $45,000 | no account filed |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Onalaska | $35,000 | Numerous trees were blown down in Onalaska along Oak Forest Drive with some of these trees landing on houses. The Onalaska fire department responded to 21 calls because of the storm. There were scattered power outages throughout the city that affected around 700 customers. |
| June 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Onalaska | $25,000 | Several trees and power lines were blown down in Onalaska. Some of the trees landed on parked cars and one city street was shut down due to all the damage. |
| August 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Onalaska | $18,000 | no account filed |
| August 2009 | Lightning | Onalaska | $15,000 | Lightning found an underground natural gas service line and ignited space between the basement ceiling and first floor. No one was injured. |
| May 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Onalaska | $10,000 | Trees and a power pole were blown down in Onalaska. |
| July 1999 | Hail | Onalaska | $10,000 | no account filed |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Onalaska | $6,700 | An estimated 70 mph wind gust snapped off and uprooted numerous trees along the shoreline of Lake Onalaska. Numerous other trees were either uprooted or snapped off along Well Street between Oak and 11th Avenues in Onalaska. Also, a 100 year old maple tree went down on top of a house damaging the roof. |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Onalaska | $6,000 | no account filed |
| July 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Onalaska | $5,000 | A tree trunk was split by thunderstorm winds with part of the tree falling on a vehicle parked under it. |
| August 2007 | Flash Flood | Onalaska | $5,000 | Erosion along a bridge on Highway 53 just north of Onalaska was reported from flash flooding. |
| July 2020 | Hail | Onalaska | $4,000 | Quarter sized hail fell near Onalaska. |
| June 2001 | Hail | Onalaska | $2,500 | no account filed |
| July 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Onalaska | $2,000 | Power lines were blown down in Onalaska. |
| June 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Onalaska | $2,000 | Numerous tree branches were blown down and moved a distance of at least 100 feet. A electrical transformer was also blown out on the northeast side of Onalaska. |
| May 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Onalaska | $2,000 | A roof was blown off a warehouse. Wind gusts at the La Crosse airport were 54 mph. |
| July 2020 | Hail | Onalaska | $1,200 | Quarter sized hail was reported just north of Onalaska. |
| July 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Onalaska | $1,000 | Several large tree branches were blown down in Onalaska. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Onalaska | $1,000 | Wind gusts from a thunderstorm knocked down several trees on the north side of Onalaska. Dime sized hail also fell along with 3.5 inches of rain which created some minor street flooding. |
| August 2009 | Lightning | Onalaska | $1,000 | Lightning caused a small fire in a deck planter and damaged a microwave oven. |
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Onalaska | $1,000 | Large trees were blown down. |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Onalaska | $1,000 | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | Onalaska | $500 | no account filed |
| August 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Onalaska | $250 | Large tree limbs were blown down. |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Onalaska | - | The public reported a tree fell over onto Wells Street. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Onalaska | - | Trained spotter reported 65 mph gust near Onalaska. |
| August 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Onalaska | - | A volunteer observer reported 60 mph wind gusts near Onalaska. |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Onalaska | - | A private weather station measured a 59 mph wind gust in Onalaska. |
| July 2017 | Hail | Onalaska | - | Ping pong sized hail fell in Onalaska. |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Onalaska | - | An estimated 60 mph wind gust occurred in Onalaska. |
| July 2013 | Hail | Onalaska | - | Half dollar sized hail fell in Onalaska. |
| April 2010 | Hail | Onalaska | - | A trained spotter estimated one inch size hail in Onalaska. |
| July 2008 | Hail | Onalaska | - | Hail was reported at the Onalaska High School. |
| June 1995 | Tornado (F0) | Onalaska | - | During the early evening, a cold air funnel touched down in a residential area in Onalaska (La Crosse County). The resultant weak tornado then traveled east approximately one-quarter of a mile before lifting into the clouds. An eyewitness reported seeing a swimming pool cover, tar paper, and twigs swirling around at about 200 feet in the air. The tornado was said to have made a high pitch whistling noise and looked like a white pillar reaching about 300 feet into the air. This was the first tornado touchdown in Wisconsin for the 1995 convective season. |
| May 2011 | Hail | Onalaska | - | no account filed |
| March 2005 | Hail | Onalaska | - | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Hail | Onalaska | - | no account filed |
| July 2004 | Hail | Onalaska | - | no account filed |
| July 2004 | Hail | Onalaska | - | no account filed |
| June 2003 | Funnel Cloud | Onalaska | - | no account filed |
| April 2002 | Hail | Onalaska | - | no account filed |
| April 2001 | Hail | Onalaska | - | no account filed |
| April 2001 | Hail | Onalaska | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | Onalaska | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | Onalaska | - | no account filed |
| May 2000 | Hail | Onalaska | - | no account filed |
| August 1998 | Flood | Onalaska | - | no account filed |
| May 1995 | Hail | Onalaska | - | 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.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lakeview (historical) | 1.7 miles | 13 | |
| Holiday Heights | 2.2 miles | 18 | |
| French Island | 2.2 miles | 14 | |
| Medary | 2.4 miles | 18 | |
| North La Crosse | 2.7 miles | 18 | |
| Grand Crossing | 2.7 miles | 18 | |
| Cold Springs | 2.8 miles | 18 | |
| French Island Village | 3.0 miles | 13 |
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 Onalaska | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1569538 | 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 1570818. 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.










