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Balfour, Iowa

12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1994. It stands in Center Township. It lies in ZIP code area 51534. The Survey maps it on the Glenwood quadrangle.

Balfour within Mills County

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 12 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

12 since 2009

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 12 fires within 5 miles of Balfour between 2009 and 2018, burning about 52 acres in total. None started naturally. None was 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/undetermined7
Debris and open burning5

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
13 May 2015Debris and open burning5.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
7 April 2016Debris and open burning10 acresIowa Department of Natural ResourcesGLENWOOD FIRE DEPARTMENT
17 April 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.5 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
12 April 2014Missing data/not specified/undetermined15 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
31 March 2018Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
31 March 2015Debris and open burning2.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
30 March 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resources63033 287TH ST., IA
24 March 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resources23615 KANE AVE, GLENWOOD, IA

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Mills County

Storms near this place

10 since 2011

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Balfour in 10 storm reports between 2011 and 2025: 6 hail, 3 thunderstorm wind, 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
July 2025Thunderstorm WindBalfour-Personal weather station measured wind gust of 61 mph.
May 2024Tornado (EF1)Balfour-A tornado developed and snapped trees at a home on Lucas Road, moving quickly to the northeast where it cut a 30 yard wide swath of snapped trees and branches. Additional sporadic tree damage was noted near Kane Avenue. A farm was badly damaged along Jagger Road, with one large shed completely destroyed and two large grain bins destroyed with debris deposited a half mile downstream. The tornado then crossed Highway 34 a quarter-mile west of 270th Street damaging a power pole. Damage continued northeast through open fields crossing the Burlington Northern Santa Fe line where large tree branches were snapped. The tornado continued northeast damaging two farmsteads along Hershey Avenue where several outbuildings sustained high-end EF1 damage. Many trees were snapped at both farmsteads. Peak estimated winds from this tornado were 100 miles per hour. This tornado achieved a maximum width of 250 yards, with an average width estimated at 150 yards.
May 2023HailBalfour-Storm chaser reported 1-inch hail.
May 2023HailBalfour-Public reported 1.5-inch hail.
May 2023HailBalfour-Storm chaser reported 1-inch hail.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindBalfour-Trained spotter estimated winds near 60 mph.
June 2016Thunderstorm WindBalfour-A trailer was blow over onto its side from the strong winds.
July 2014HailBalfour-no account filed
August 2011HailBalfour-no account filed
May 2011HailBalfour-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Mills 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
Hillsdale2.9 miles12
Glenwood4.0 miles12
Silver City4.7 miles12
Malvern5.4 miles10
Mills5.6 miles13
Mineola6.7 miles11
Pacific City7.0 miles13
Pacific Junction7.3 miles13

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 BalfourAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q114658156The 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 464455. 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.

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.