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Buffalo, Iowa

19 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1912 and the latest in 1991. It stands in Buffalo Township. It lies in ZIP code area 52728. It stands on Dodges Creek. The Survey maps it on the Andalusia quadrangle. 1,176 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 564 feet above sea level.

Buffalo within Scott County

On record in Buffalo

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 1 record

Population over time

2 figures

Buffalo fell from 1,270 to 1,176 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
20101,270
20201,176-94 (-7%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 surveys from 19 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

3 since 2009

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 3 fires within 5 miles of Buffalo between 2009 and 2011, burning about 1 acre 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/undetermined2
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

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
30 May 2009Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry ResourcesHOLLOW
27 May 2010Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry ResourcesCOUNTY
9 October 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resources1687 HWY J-22, IA

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Scott County

Mines and quarries near this place

5 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Buffalo: 5 producers. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Salt, Calcium. 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
Cargill Salt Terminal SaSaltProducer
Linwood Lime PlantCalciumProducer
Davenport QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Linwood Stone Products Mine & MillStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Martin Marietta-Buffalo Cement PlntStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer

Every working recorded in Scott County

Storms near this place

23 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Buffalo in 23 storm reports between 1996 and 2026: 12 thunderstorm wind, 6 hail, 3 flood, 2 tornado. The reports record 2 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
August 2001Thunderstorm WindBuffalo2 hurtLaw enforcement officials said winds estimated at 70 mph were the likely cause of an accident that injured two people (directly-related). Thunderstorm winds blew a car off a rural road into a parked pickup truck. The truck then struck a camper, and the car and truck both struck a nearby mobile home. The driver of the car and a passenger were treated for minor injuries at a local hospital.
April 2011FloodBuffalo$250,000no account filed
May 2013Tornado (EF1)Buffalo$100,000An EF1 tornado touched down in Andalusia, IL around 445 pm CDT and traveled north-northeast. This weak tornado crossed the Mississippi River from Rock Island County and moved into Scott County, IA through eastern sections of Buffalo, IA, affecting a few houses. The primary impact was to the parks on the eastern edge of town. Wind speeds were estimated to be 95 mph. Some large trees were snapped and uprooted along the path. Some of the fallen trees fell onto houses.
August 2003HailBuffalo$10,000no account filed
May 2004Thunderstorm WindBuffalo$2,000no account filed
June 2010Thunderstorm WindBuffalo$200Wind gusts estimated to be 65 mph caused some tree damage and flipped a shed over in Buffalo, IA around 430 pm June 23.
July 2025Tornado (EF2)Buffalo-This quickly strengthening tornado developed southeast of Blue Grass and maintained 100 to 120 mph winds for much of its path into Davenport ending near Kimberly Rd. The most significant damage occurred at an RV sales business and adjacent residential neighborhood near I-280, as well as in and near Emeis Golf Course. Over 15 RVs were blown over, some blown 10 to 15 ft. The largest tipped over RV was 25,000 lbs. It was estimated over 80 moderate to large trees were snapped or uprooted along the path, in some places with high concentration. At least two unoccupied vehicles had trees fall on them. The mas width of the tornado was 500 yards with peak estimated winds of 120 MPH.
August 2018Thunderstorm WindBuffalo-A trained spotter reported that a tree was down on a house 1 mile east of Hacker Street.
August 2018Thunderstorm WindBuffalo-A 10 inch diameter tree down on South Mississippi Street in Bluegrass.
October 2016Thunderstorm WindBuffalo-A storm survey team indicated hardwood trees uprooted due to straight line winds.
October 2016Thunderstorm WindBuffalo-A storm survey team indicated small hardwood tree branches broken due to straight line winds.
October 2016Thunderstorm WindBuffalo-A storm survey team indicated large hardwood tree branches broken due to straight line winds.
June 2014FloodBuffalo-Heavy rains during the second half of June resulted in the Mississippi River at Rock Island, IL going above its major flood stage level of 18 feet on June 30 around 1030 pm CDT. It crested around 20.94 feet around 6 pm CDT July 4. It fell below the major flood stage level during the morning of July 11.
June 2013Thunderstorm WindBuffalo-Leaves were stripped from a tree and there were also trees down. Torrential rain was also occurring with the storm.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindBuffalo-Wind gusts estimated to be at least 60 mph were observed in Buffalo, IA at 512 am CDT June 9.
May 2008FloodBuffalo-The Mississippi River at Rock Island was over its major flood stage level from 12:00 am May 1 until 6:00 am May 4.
March 2026HailBuffalo-no account filed
August 2018Thunderstorm WindBuffalo-no account filed
May 2004HailBuffalo-no account filed
April 2003HailBuffalo-no account filed
June 2002HailBuffalo-no account filed
May 2000HailBuffalo-no account filed
October 1996Thunderstorm WindBuffalo-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Scott 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
Buffalo Heights1.2 miles19
Linwood2.4 miles19
Jamestown2.7 miles19
Walnut Grove3.4 miles19
Blue Grass4.3 miles15
Chapel Hill (historical)4.7 miles19
Nahant5.0 miles19
Rockingham (historical)5.1 miles19

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 BuffaloAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q979426The 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 454951. 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.