Kopperl (pronounced KOP-er-ul) is an unincorporated community and census designated place (CDP) in Bosque County, Texas, United States. It lies on the northwestern end of Lake Whitney, and has an estimated population of 225.
Kopperl | |
|---|---|
 | |
  Kopperl Location within the state of Texas  Kopperl Kopperl (the United States) | |
| Coordinates: 32°04′12″N 97°30′04″W / 32.07000°N 97.50111°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Texas |
| County | Bosque |
| Elevation | 568 ft (173 m) |
| Population (2008 est.) | |
| • Total | 225 |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| ZIP codes | 76652 |
| Area code | 254 |
| GNIS feature ID | 2805736[1] |
History
editKopperl was founded in 1881. Named after Galveston banker and railroad tycoon Moritz Kopperl, the town was established as a regional shipping point along the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway. Its population peaked at 329 in 1904 before declining to 225 by the 1970s, a figure it has maintained fairly consistently since.[2]
Shortly after midnight on June 15, 1960, a very rare meteorological phenomenon, a heat burst, struck the community when a dying thunderstorm collapsed over Kopperl. The storm had rained itself out, and with little to no precipitation to cool the resulting downdrafts, superheated air descended upon the community in the form of extremely hot wind gusts up to 75 mph (121 km/h). The temperature increased rapidly, reportedly peaking near 140 °F (60 °C),[3] 20° above the official all-time high for the state of Texas and exceeding the highest official temperature recorded on Earth. The storm, known as "Satan's Storm" by locals, soon became part of local folklore.[4][5][6]
Kopperl was the town described in "Texas Trilogy", a song by Texas native Steve Fromholz and covered by Lyle Lovett.
Demographics
edit| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 164 | — | |
| U.S. Decennial Census[7] 1850–1900[8] 1910[9] 1920[10] 1930[11] 1940[12] 1950[13] 1960[14] 1970[15] 1980[16] 1990[17] 2000[18] 2010[19] 2020[20] | |||
Kopperl first appeared as a census designated place in the 2020 U.S. Census.[21][19][20]
2020 census
edit| Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic) | Pop 2020[20] | % 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| White alone (NH) | 153 | 93.29% |
| Black or African American alone (NH) | 0 | 0.00% |
| Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) | 0 | 0.00% |
| Asian alone (NH) | 0 | 0.00% |
| Pacific Islander alone (NH) | 0 | 0.00% |
| Other race alone (NH) | 0 | 0.00% |
| Mixed race or Multiracial (NH) | 5 | 3.05% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 6 | 3.66% |
| Total | 164 | 100.00% |
Education
editKopperl is served by the Kopperl Independent School District.
Climate
editThe climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen climate classification, Kopperl has a humid subtropical climate, Cfa on climate maps.[22]
| Climate data for Kopperl, U.S.A. (1908-present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 90 (32) |
97 (36) |
100 (38) |
103 (39) |
107 (42) |
114 (46) |
111 (44) |
112 (44) |
114 (46) |
101 (38) |
93 (34) |
91 (33) |
114 (46) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 57.5 (14.2) |
61.3 (16.3) |
68.5 (20.3) |
77.3 (25.2) |
83.9 (28.8) |
90.9 (32.7) |
95.7 (35.4) |
96.4 (35.8) |
89.0 (31.7) |
79.0 (26.1) |
68.1 (20.1) |
58.5 (14.7) |
77.2 (25.1) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 45.1 (7.3) |
48.8 (9.3) |
55.9 (13.3) |
64.8 (18.2) |
72.7 (22.6) |
80.0 (26.7) |
83.7 (28.7) |
84.0 (28.9) |
76.9 (24.9) |
66.5 (19.2) |
55.8 (13.2) |
46.3 (7.9) |
64.9 (18.3) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 32.6 (0.3) |
36.2 (2.3) |
43.3 (6.3) |
52.2 (11.2) |
61.6 (16.4) |
69.1 (20.6) |
71.7 (22.1) |
71.7 (22.1) |
64.8 (18.2) |
54.1 (12.3) |
43.5 (6.4) |
34.1 (1.2) |
52.9 (11.6) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −3 (−19) |
−3 (−19) |
11 (−12) |
18 (−8) |
35 (2) |
38 (3) |
56 (13) |
51 (11) |
30 (−1) |
20 (−7) |
15 (−9) |
−3 (−19) |
−3 (−19) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 2.08 (53) |
2.67 (68) |
3.17 (81) |
2.72 (69) |
4.32 (110) |
4.42 (112) |
2.00 (51) |
2.26 (57) |
3.30 (84) |
3.62 (92) |
2.61 (66) |
2.53 (64) |
35.7 (907) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 0.2 (0.51) |
0.1 (0.25) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.1 (0.25) |
0.4 (1.01) |
| Source 1: [23] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: June record high[24][unreliable source?] | |||||||||||||
References
edit- ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Kopperl, Texas
- ^ Karean Yancy (June 15, 2010). "KOPPERL, TX". tshaonline.org. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
- ^ James Spann (June 15, 2009). "The Kopperl Heat Burst: The Alabama Weather Blog". Alabamawx.com. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
- ^ "Freak Heat Wave Hits Lake Whitney". The Clifton Record. June 17, 1960. Retrieved September 11, 2017.(subscription required)
- ^ Bills, E. R. Texas Obscurities: Stories of the Peculiar, Exceptional & Nefarious. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2013.
- ^ "'Satan's Storm': The day Kopperl, Texas, thought the world was ending". spectrumlocalnews.com. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
- ^ "Decennial Census by Decade". United States Census Bureau.
- ^ "1900 Census of Population - Population of Texas By Counties And Minor Civil Divisions" (PDF). United States Census Bureau.
- ^ "1910 Census of Population - Supplement for Texas" (PDF). United States Census Bureau.
- ^ "1920 Census of Population - Number of Inhabitants - Texas" (PDF). United States Census Bureau.
- ^ "1930 Census of Population - Number of Inhabitants - Texas" (PDF). United States Census Bureau.
- ^ "1940 Census of Population - Number of Inhabitants - Texas" (PDF). United States Census Bureau.
- ^ "1950 Census of Population - Number of Inhabitants - Texas" (PDF). United States Census Bureau.
- ^ "1960 Census of Population - Number of Inhabitants - Texas" (PDF). United States Census Bureau.
- ^ "1970 Census of Population - Number of Inhabitants - Texas" (PDF). United States Census Bureau.
- ^ "1980 Census of Population - Number of Inhabitants - Texas" (PDF). United States Census Bureau.
- ^ "1990 Census of Population - Population and Housing Unit Counts - Texas" (PDF). United States Census Bureau.
- ^ "2000 Census of Population - Population and Housing Unit Counts - Texas" (PDF). United States Census Bureau.
- ^ a b "2010 Census of Population - Population and Housing Unit Counts - Texas" (PDF). United States Census Bureau.
- ^ a b c "P2: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2020: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Kopperl CDP, Texas". United States Census Bureau.
- ^ "2020 Geography Changes". United States Census Bureau.
- ^ "Kopperl, Texas Köppen Climate Classification". Weatherbase.com. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
- ^ "Kopperl, Texas Average Temperature". WeatherDB. Retrieved April 25, 2017.[dead link]
- ^ Petricic, Dusan (2000). "It's Raining Eels: A Compendium of Weird Weather". Scientific American Presents: 54–55. ISSN 1048-0943.
Further reading
edit- Tornadoes, Dark Days, Anomalous Precipitation and Related Weather Phenomena by William Corliss, Catalog of Geophysical Anomalies, 1983
- Extreme Weather; A Guide and Record Book by Christopher C. Burt
- Freaks of the Storm by Randy Cerveny