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Clarence, Iowa

12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1889 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Dayton Township. It lies in ZIP code area 52216. The Survey maps it on the Clarence quadrangle. 1,039 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 837 feet above sea level.

Clarence within Cedar County

On record in Clarence

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

Clarence grew from 974 to 1,039 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
2010974
20201,039+65 (+7%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 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.

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 Clarence: 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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
Kelly QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer

Every working recorded in Cedar County

Storms near this place

29 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Clarence in 29 storm reports between 1993 and 2026: 15 thunderstorm wind, 8 hail, 2 flood, 2 flash flood. 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
April 1995Thunderstorm WindClarence1 hurt, $55,000no account filed
April 1995Thunderstorm WindClarence1 hurt, $20,000no account filed
July 2003Tornado (F1)Clarence$1,000,000Strong F1...winds estimated around 110 mph.
April 2006Thunderstorm WindClarence$100,000The same line of storms produced a severe downburst in Clarence and immediately south. Winds with this downburst were estimated at 83-87 knots (95-100 mph).In Clarence, Hunwardsen Fabrication lost the roof and one entire wall of their building with the debris scattered across the parking lot to the west. South of town a grain bin and a gazebo were destroyed.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindClarence$50,000Wind gusts estimated to be 70 mph blew down a number of trees onto cars and power lines in Clarence, IA around 1 pm June 18. This report was relayed by KGAN.
May 1993HailClarence$50,000no account filed
June 1995Thunderstorm WindClarence$15,000A warm and humid air mass was over Iowa during the day. The outflow boundary from convection to the west of the state during the previous night moved into Iowa from the northwest. By mid afternoon it was about one-third the way southeast across the state. The actual cold front remained west of the state. Winds aloft were nearly nonexistent and as a result thunderstorms that did develop were nearly truly air mass type. A few storms became severe as new cells formed on the collisions of outflow boundaries from earlier storms. Three-quarters inch diameter hail fell south of the Dubuque Airport in eastern Iowa. About the same time, a storm over Wright County produced high winds in Eagle Grove. Several trees were downed in the city. During the evening, thunderstorms moved across Poweshiek County. Lightning struck a main feeder line near Searsboro, knocking the electricity in Montezuma. Winds downed several trees in the city of Montezuma. Another storm downed several trees and flipped dog houses southwest of Clarence in Cedar County. Most of the storms produced brief but very heavy rains, small hail, and winds of 30 to 50 mph. A few spots picked up over three inches of rain in a short time. Flooding was not reported as soil conditions were very dry.
April 1994Thunderstorm WindClarence$5,000no account filed
July 1995Thunderstorm WindClarence$4,000A small area of thunderstorms dropped southeast across northeast and east central Iowa during the early morning hours. They formed in conjunction with a weak upper level disturbance moving through a moist and unstable air mass. A few of the storms became marginally severe as they moved through Clinton and Cedar Counties. Trees were downed in both counties. A car was blown off the road northeast of Clarence in Cedar County.
July 2004Thunderstorm WindClarence$3,000Large pine tree down on a farm house with a power line down.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindClarence$2,000Wind gusts estimated to be 60 mph blew down some tree limbs onto some power lines in Clarence, IA at 1128 am CDT July 24.
March 2004HailClarence$2,000no account filed
June 2007LightningClarence$1,000A house was struck by lightning knocking the chimney off and causing some electrical wiring damage.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindClarence-Large tree downed on 5th Avenue, on the south side of town.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindClarence-Large tree branches blown down.
May 2019Flash FloodClarence-Flash flooding closed portions of Highway 30 in Clarence.
May 2019Flash FloodClarence-Law enforcement and spotters reported Highway 30 closed in both directions due to flash flooding.
May 2019Thunderstorm WindClarence-Several three inch diameter branches blown down.
July 2013Thunderstorm WindClarence-Wind gusts estimated to be 75 mph blew down numerous trees and limbs in Clarence, IA around 820 pm CDT July 22.
March 2012HailClarence-Tennis ball sized hail fell in Clarence around 950 pm CDT March 31. It hailed from 950 pm until 1020 pm.
March 2012HailClarence-Quarter to silver dollar sized hail fell about 1 mile east of Clarence at 951 pm CDT March 31.
March 2012HailClarence-Golf ball sized hail fell in Clarence around 955 pm CDT March 31. The hail lasted for 5 to 7 minutes. This report was relayed by a trained spotter.
August 2012Thunderstorm WindClarence-A report received via ESPOTTER estimated thunderstorm wind gusts around 72 mph.
March 2002Thunderstorm WindClarence-The roofs were blown off 2 buildings at a farmstead.
July 2002FloodClarence-Roadside park flooded.
July 2002FloodClarence-Yankee River overflowed its banks flooding some pasture.
April 2026HailClarence-no account filed
June 2015HailClarence-no account filed
April 1997HailClarence-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Cedar 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
Stanwood5.0 miles12
Wald5.3 miles12
Lowden7.1 miles15
Massillon7.3 miles13
Tipton9.1 miles12
Mechanicsville10.6 miles12
Bennett11.2 miles15
Buchanan13.2 miles12

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 ClarenceAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1000178The 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 455423. 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.

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.