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.
Population over time
2 figuresBlencoe 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 224 | |
| 2020 | 233 | +9 (+4%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 8 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.
- 1955 USGS Fremont quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Fremont quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Fremont quadrangle1:250000
- 1970 USGS Blencoe quadrangle1:24000
- 1986 USGS Blair quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
25 since 2006Regional 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/undetermined | 25 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 August 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 14 July 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 9 June 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 12 June 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 9 April 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 8 April 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 6 April 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 6 April 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Mines and quarries near this place
1 within 5 milesRegional 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Onawa Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown |
Storms near this place
37 since 1994Regional 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2008 | Tornado (EF3) | Blencoe | 4 killed, 48 hurt | This 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 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Blencoe | $5,000 | no account filed |
| March 2026 | Hail | Blencoe | - | Trained spotter report of hail measured at 1.50 inch in diameter. |
| August 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Blencoe | - | Personal weather station measured wind gust of 73 mph. |
| May 2024 | Hail | Blencoe | - | The public reported quarter sized hail on the west side of Blencoe via mPING. |
| July 2024 | Funnel Cloud | Blencoe | - | The office received multiple photos of a funnel cloud via social media. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Blencoe | - | A personal weather station measured a peak wind gust of 59 mph. |
| April 2023 | Hail | Blencoe | - | Broadcast media relayed reported of 1.5-inch hail. |
| July 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Blencoe | - | Public reported tress blown down with winds estimated between 50 to 60 mph. |
| June 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Blencoe | - | A semi-truck was blown over on I-29, about 3 miles south of Blencoe. |
| September 2016 | Flash Flood | Blencoe | - | Heavy rainfall in excess of 5 inches led to water over a couple of county roadways. |
| August 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Blencoe | - | Measurement was from the Iowa Department of Transportation. |
| June 2014 | Hail | Blencoe | - | Winds were gusting to around 50 mph. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Blencoe | - | 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 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Blencoe | - | A large tree was downed south of Blencoe and corn was flattened in the area by thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at 60 mph. |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Blencoe | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at 60 mph downed tree limbs in town. |
| May 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Blencoe | - | Law enforcement estimated a thunderstorm wind gust of 70 to 75 mph. |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Blencoe | - | Trees downed. |
| July 1998 | Tornado (F0) | Blencoe | - | Brief tornado touchdown. |
| September 2016 | Hail | Blencoe | - | no account filed |
| September 2016 | Hail | Blencoe | - | no account filed |
| July 2016 | Hail | Blencoe | - | no account filed |
| June 2014 | Hail | Blencoe | - | no account filed |
| May 2012 | Hail | Blencoe | - | no account filed |
| May 2007 | Hail | Blencoe | - | no account filed |
| April 2005 | Hail | Blencoe | - | no account filed |
| April 2002 | Hail | Blencoe | - | no account filed |
| July 2002 | Hail | Blencoe | - | no account filed |
| July 2002 | Hail | Blencoe | - | no account filed |
| July 2002 | Hail | Blencoe | - | no account filed |
| May 2001 | Hail | Blencoe | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | Blencoe | - | no account filed |
| August 2000 | Hail | Blencoe | - | no account filed |
| August 2000 | Hail | Blencoe | - | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Hail | Blencoe | - | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Hail | Blencoe | - | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Hail | Blencoe | - | 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.
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 Blencoe | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1944948 | 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 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.




