Viola, Wisconsin
12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1926 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Viola Village. It lies in ZIP code area 54664. It lies near Mount Nebo. The Survey maps it on the La Farge quadrangle. 676 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 764 feet above sea level.
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 surveys from 12 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.
- 1926 USGS La Farge quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS La Crosse quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1961 USGS La Crosse quadrangle1:250000
- 1965 USGS La Crosse quadrangle1:250000
- 1965 USGS La Farge quadrangle1:62500
- 1976 USGS La Crosse quadrangle1:250000
- 1983 USGS La Farge quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Sparta quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
42 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 42 fires within 5 miles of Viola between 1994 and 2020, burning about 163 acres in total. None started naturally. 7 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 | 17 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 11 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 7 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5 |
| Smoking | 1 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 September 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | HWY 56 THREE |
| 5 September 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 4 September 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | HWY 56 TWO |
| 4 September 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | HWY 56 ONE |
| 19 September 2004 | Debris and open burning | 1.1 acres | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 31 July 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.4 acres | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | ROUND BALER |
| 21 June 2000 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 19 May 2012 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | RIVER ROAD |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
5 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Viola: 5 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benson Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Coumbs Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Jones Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Joseph Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Lawton Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
19 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Viola in 19 storm reports between 1996 and 2021: 6 thunderstorm wind, 6 flood, 3 hail, 3 flash flood. The reports record 3 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2005 | Tornado (F2) | Viola | 3 hurt, $2,500,000 | no account filed |
| September 2016 | Flash Flood | Viola | $2,400,000 | Flooding along a branch of Camp Creek sent three feet of water into a house east of Viola. Flooding along Fancy and Marshall Creeks caused roads to be closed near Gillingham. State Highway 56 was closed east of Viola due to flooding along Camp Creek and County Highway C was closed near Yuba because of flooding along the Pine River. A total of 3 homes were destroyed by the flooding with another 72 damaged. |
| June 2008 | Flood | Viola | $2,200,000 | The Kickapoo river at Viola reached a record crest of 21.25 feet around 5 a.m. on June 9. The previous record crest of 21.0 feet occurred on July 1, 1978. Flood stage is 14.0 feet. Water was over bridge railings on the bridges. |
| August 2018 | Flood | Viola | $610,000 | Flooding along the Kickapoo River prompted some water rescues in Viola. Water was 12 to 18 inches deep in the fire station and was flowing over the upper rail of the State Highway 131 bridge. |
| July 2017 | Flood | Viola | $211,000 | After the initial flash flooding across Richland County, the flooding continued to cause problems through July 20th into the 21st. The flooding along the Pine River prompted an apartment complex to be evacuated and a shelter to be opened in Richland Center. Over a dozen roads were closed across the county because of the flooding. Nine homes sustained minor damage during the flooding. |
| July 2017 | Flash Flood | Viola | $186,000 | Heavy rains, with totals of 6 to 8 inches, produced flash flooding across the central and eastern sections of Richland County. The heavy rains caused the Pine River to go out of its banks which prompted sandbagging to occur in Yuba, closed State Highway 80 at County Road D and caused flooding to occur in Richland Center. |
| August 2007 | Flood | Viola | $150,000 | The Kickapoo River at Viola established the second highest all-time crest of record when it reached 18.20 feet on August 19. Flood stage is 14 feet. |
| September 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Viola | $10,000 | A roof was blown off a shed west of Bloom City. |
| July 2010 | Flash Flood | Viola | $10,000 | The emergency manager reported several roads closed due to washouts and water over roadways in extreme northern Richland County. |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Viola | $700 | Large trees and power lines blown down. |
| August 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Viola | $400 | no account filed |
| December 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Viola | - | A 62 mph wind gust was measured north of Viola with a private weather station. |
| March 2019 | Flood | Viola | - | Runoff from melting snow caused flooding to occur along the Kickapoo River and other smaller streams. State Highway 131 between Viola and the Vernon County Line, State Highway 56 in Viola, State Highway 80 north of Richland Center and several other county or town roads were closed because of the flooding. One person was displaced from their home due to the flooding. |
| May 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Viola | - | An estimated 65 mph wind gust occurred in Viola. |
| August 2010 | Flood | Viola | - | Many roads across the northern half of the county were closed due to high water. State Highway 80 was closed in several places, as was State Highway 56 east of Viola and County Highway N and State Highway 58 near Ithica. Also, Willow Creek and Melancthon Creek, as well as their smaller tributaries were high or out of their banks in many places. |
| April 2002 | Hail | Viola | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | Viola | - | no account filed |
| May 2000 | Hail | Viola | - | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Viola | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tunnelville | 3.3 miles | 12 | |
| Sylvan | 6.1 miles | 10 | |
| Sabin | 7.4 miles | 10 | |
| West Lima | 7.8 miles | 12 | |
| Bosstown | 8.6 miles | 10 | |
| Mill Creek (historical) | 10.4 miles | 10 | |
| Jimtown | 10.7 miles | 10 | |
| Bloom City | 10.8 miles | 12 |
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 Viola | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2193815 | 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 1576108. 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.







