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Blencoe, Iowa

8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1955 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Sherman Township. It lies in ZIP code area 51523. The Survey maps it on the Blencoe quadrangle. 233 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,040 feet above sea level.

Blencoe within Monona County

Population over time

2 figures

Blencoe grew from 224 to 233 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
2010224
2020233+9 (+4%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 8 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

25 since 2006

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 25 fires within 5 miles of Blencoe between 2006 and 2018, burning about 354 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/undetermined25

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
3 August 2013Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
14 July 2006Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
9 June 2007Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
12 June 2012Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
9 April 2014Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
8 April 2014Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
6 April 2014Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
6 April 2006Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Every fire recorded in Monona County

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Blencoe: 1 unknown. None of them still produces. What was taken out: 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Onawa PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown

Every working recorded in Monona County

Storms near this place

37 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Blencoe in 37 storm reports between 1994 and 2026: 22 hail, 11 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 1 flash flood. The reports record 4 deaths and 48 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 2008Tornado (EF3)Blencoe4 killed, 48 hurtThis tornado tragically hit a boyscout camp north of Little Sioux Iowa killing 4 young scouts. The tornado initially touched down in Burt county Nebraska, crossed into Harrison county Iowa near mile marker 97 on Interstate 29, and then finally crossed into Monona county Iowa about 4 miles north of Little Sioux. In Monona county the tornado entered the Little Sioux Scout Ranch, destroying the rangers home near the entrance of the park giving it a rating of EF3. The storm then blew down trees and destroyed bunk houses at the camp. Four scouts were killed in one bunk house when a brick chimney collapsed on them. In total 48 people were injured at the camp. The tornado continued to topple trees as it tracked into Preparation Canyon State Park. Just before it entered the park a farmstead sustained damage. The tornado hit another farmstead about 2.5 miles southwest of Moorhead where trees were blown down and sheds damaged. The tornado then began to weaken and finally lifted about 2 miles southwest of Moorhead. The total path length was around 14 miles.
July 1994Thunderstorm WindBlencoe$5,000no account filed
March 2026HailBlencoe-Trained spotter report of hail measured at 1.50 inch in diameter.
August 2025Thunderstorm WindBlencoe-Personal weather station measured wind gust of 73 mph.
May 2024HailBlencoe-The public reported quarter sized hail on the west side of Blencoe via mPING.
July 2024Funnel CloudBlencoe-The office received multiple photos of a funnel cloud via social media.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindBlencoe-A personal weather station measured a peak wind gust of 59 mph.
April 2023HailBlencoe-Broadcast media relayed reported of 1.5-inch hail.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindBlencoe-Public reported tress blown down with winds estimated between 50 to 60 mph.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindBlencoe-A semi-truck was blown over on I-29, about 3 miles south of Blencoe.
September 2016Flash FloodBlencoe-Heavy rainfall in excess of 5 inches led to water over a couple of county roadways.
August 2016Thunderstorm WindBlencoe-Measurement was from the Iowa Department of Transportation.
June 2014HailBlencoe-Winds were gusting to around 50 mph.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindBlencoe-Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at around 70 mph downed trees and power lines in the Blencoe area. Some of the fallen trees also caused house damage in town.
August 2006Thunderstorm WindBlencoe-A large tree was downed south of Blencoe and corn was flattened in the area by thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at 60 mph.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindBlencoe-Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at 60 mph downed tree limbs in town.
May 2001Thunderstorm WindBlencoe-Law enforcement estimated a thunderstorm wind gust of 70 to 75 mph.
May 1998Thunderstorm WindBlencoe-Trees downed.
July 1998Tornado (F0)Blencoe-Brief tornado touchdown.
September 2016HailBlencoe-no account filed
September 2016HailBlencoe-no account filed
July 2016HailBlencoe-no account filed
June 2014HailBlencoe-no account filed
May 2012HailBlencoe-no account filed
May 2007HailBlencoe-no account filed
April 2005HailBlencoe-no account filed
April 2002HailBlencoe-no account filed
July 2002HailBlencoe-no account filed
July 2002HailBlencoe-no account filed
July 2002HailBlencoe-no account filed
May 2001HailBlencoe-no account filed
June 2001HailBlencoe-no account filed
August 2000HailBlencoe-no account filed
August 2000HailBlencoe-no account filed
May 1998HailBlencoe-no account filed
May 1998HailBlencoe-no account filed
May 1998HailBlencoe-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Monona 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
Onawa6.7 miles9
Turin8.6 miles9
Kennebec12.1 miles9
Moorhead12.2 miles8
Maple Landing (historical)13.2 miles9
Castana13.5 miles9
Whiting14.1 miles9
Soldier16.4 miles8

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 BlencoeAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1944948The 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 454687. 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.