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Colfax, Iowa

8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Washington Township. It lies in ZIP code area 50054. It stands on Sugar Creek. The Survey maps it on the Colfax quadrangle. 2,255 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 801 feet above sea level.

Colfax within Jasper County

On record in Colfax

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 2 records

Population over time

2 figures

Colfax grew from 2,093 to 2,255 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
20102,093
20202,255+162 (+8%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 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.

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 Colfax: 4 past producers, 1 producer. 1 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
Colfax Pit and PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Perkins PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Roscoe Maggard PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Jasper County

Storms near this place

53 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Colfax in 53 storm reports between 1997 and 2024: 20 thunderstorm wind, 20 hail, 3 flood, 3 funnel cloud. 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
June 2008Flash FloodColfax$50,000Highway 117 was closed and street flooding was reported in Colfax.
March 2007FloodColfax$50,000no account filed
June 1998Thunderstorm WindColfax$40,000no account filed
August 1997Thunderstorm WindColfax$40,000no account filed
May 1998FloodColfax$30,000no account filed
May 2008Thunderstorm WindColfax$25,000Measured wind gusts of 75 MPH received.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindColfax$25,000Numerous trees and limbs down. Power was out all the way north to Interstate 80.
April 2007FloodColfax$25,000no account filed
April 2003HailColfax$25,000no account filed
April 2003HailColfax$25,000no account filed
July 2001Thunderstorm WindColfax$25,000no account filed
June 1998Thunderstorm WindColfax$15,000no account filed
June 2008Flash FloodColfax$10,000Highway 117 was under water and about to be closed.
April 2001Tornado (F1)Colfax$10,000Intermittent track through open country. Tornado moved into Marshall County northwest of Baxter.
April 2003HailColfax$10,000no account filed
May 1998HailColfax$10,000no account filed
May 2000Thunderstorm WindColfax$7,000no account filed
July 2012Thunderstorm WindColfax$5,000Power lines down in Colfax.
July 2008HailColfax$5,000Winds of 60 MPH as well.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindColfax$5,000no account filed
September 2005Thunderstorm WindColfax$5,000no account filed
April 2003HailColfax$5,000no account filed
April 2003HailColfax$5,000no account filed
March 2002Thunderstorm WindColfax$5,000no account filed
June 2002HailColfax$5,000no account filed
June 2002HailColfax$5,000no account filed
May 2002HailColfax$5,000no account filed
June 1998Thunderstorm WindColfax$5,000no account filed
June 2009Thunderstorm WindColfax$3,000no account filed
July 2008Thunderstorm WindColfax$3,000no account filed
June 1998Thunderstorm WindColfax$3,000no account filed
July 1998Thunderstorm WindColfax$3,000no account filed
June 2008Thunderstorm WindColfax$2,000The Jasper County Sheriff reported dime size hail also with this storm.
July 2002HailColfax$2,000no account filed
April 1998HailColfax$500Thunderstorms fired up in advance of a cold front and upper level disturbance. Many of the storms produced pea size hail. Some reports indicated the hail covered the ground completely. One of the storms intensified briefly and dropped three quarter inch diameter hail in Jasper County at Colfax.
July 2024HailColfax-Hail up to ping pong ball sized and wind gusts estimated up to 40 mph.
July 2024HailColfax-Photo of hail from KCCI viewer. Size estimated based on photo.
June 2020Heavy RainColfax-Mesonet reported a 24 hour rain total of 3.68 inches. Still raining at time of report.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindColfax-Public report of winds gusts between 70 to 80 mph.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindColfax-A trained spotter reported a large tree blocking both lanes of Highway F48 in Colfax.
August 2018Funnel CloudColfax-Trained spotter reported a funnel cloud between Mitchellville and Colfax.
June 2018Heavy RainColfax-Public reported heavy rainfall of 3.5 inches from yesterday through early this morning.
July 2018Funnel CloudColfax-Public reported funnel cloud east of Highway 117 and S 60th St.
July 2018Tornado (EF0)Colfax-Tornado remained in agricultural fields northwest of Prairie City for entire path length.
September 2018Heavy RainColfax-Trained spotter reported heavy rainfall of 3.5 inches.
May 2017Thunderstorm WindColfax-Trained spotter reported strong winds to 60 mph with heavy rainfall approaching.
June 2017HailColfax-Trained spotter reported quarter sized hail.
July 2024HailColfax-no account filed
June 2024Funnel CloudColfax-no account filed
April 2006HailColfax-no account filed
June 2003HailColfax-no account filed
June 2003HailColfax-no account filed
June 2002HailColfax-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Jasper 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
Severs2.5 miles8
Oswalt3.0 miles11
Goddard3.9 miles8
Green Castle4.8 miles11
Prairie City5.4 miles8
Prairiebell5.6 miles11
Valeria5.6 miles11
Metz5.9 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 ColfaxAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1934234The 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 455527. 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.