Collins, Iowa
8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Collins Township. It lies in ZIP code area 50055. The Survey maps it on the Collins quadrangle. 495 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 997 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresCollins grew from 495 to 495 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 | 495 | |
| 2020 | 495 | 0 (0%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 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.
- 1954 USGS Des Moines quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1956 USGS Des Moines quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Des Moines quadrangle1:250000
- 1969 USGS Des Moines quadrangle1:250000
- 1975 USGS Collins quadrangle1:24000
- 1984 USGS Des Moines quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
6 since 2009Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 6 fires within 5 miles of Collins between 2009 and 2019, burning about 28 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 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 |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 4 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 May 2018 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 3 May 2012 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 3 April 2019 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 3 April 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 12 March 2012 | Debris and open burning | 15 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 10 March 2012 | Debris and open burning | 5.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
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 Collins: 1 past producer. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Powers Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
35 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Collins in 35 storm reports between 1993 and 2024: 14 hail, 12 thunderstorm wind, 3 heavy rain, 2 tornado. 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Collins | $100,000 | no account filed |
| June 2018 | Flash Flood | Collins | $50,000 | Emergency manager relayed that a citizen estimated around 4 inches of water over Highway 65 at 4th St in Collins. |
| August 2010 | Flash Flood | Collins | $50,000 | Estimated 6 inches of water flowing over the road at the intersection of 4th and 2nd Ave. |
| August 1993 | Thunderstorm Wind | Collins | $50,000 | no account filed |
| September 2004 | Tornado (F1) | Collins | $30,000 | Tornado damaged 4 outbuildings and downed trees. Tornado tracked northeast and terminated 3 miles northeast of Collins. |
| May 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Collins | $20,000 | no account filed |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Collins | $10,000 | Shed destroyed. |
| June 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Collins | $10,000 | no account filed |
| June 2011 | Hail | Collins | $5,000 | no account filed |
| August 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Collins | $5,000 | no account filed |
| August 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Collins | $5,000 | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | Collins | $5,000 | no account filed |
| June 1994 | Hail | Collins | $5,000 | no account filed |
| June 2011 | Hail | Collins | $3,000 | Trained spotter reported quarter size hail at the intersection of 690th and 295th northwest of Collins. Relayed by county EM. |
| June 2011 | Hail | Collins | $1,000 | no account filed |
| May 2024 | Flood | Collins | - | Water over streets in town with fields draining of water. Many gravel roads flooding. |
| May 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Collins | - | Grain bin blown into field, time estimated by radar. |
| May 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Collins | - | Report of power lines down heading eastbound on 310th street from Collins. Timing estimated by radar. |
| July 2020 | Hail | Collins | - | Emergency manager reported ping pong ball sized hail. |
| July 2020 | Hail | Collins | - | Emergency manager reported 2 inch hail. |
| July 2020 | Hail | Collins | - | A public report via social media of nickel sized hail. |
| September 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Collins | - | Storm chaser reported thunderstorm wind gusts of 61 mph via personal equipment. Report came via social media. |
| September 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Collins | - | Trained spotter estimated 70 mph winds. Also reported 10 inch diameter tree limb down from an older tree, and multiple 3 to 4 inch tree limbs down on newer trees. |
| May 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Collins | - | Trained spotter reported at least 60 mph wind gusts and heavy rainfall. Ditches were also full of water. |
| May 2018 | Hail | Collins | - | Public reported quarter sized hail falling. |
| July 2018 | Tornado (EF0) | Collins | - | Weak tornado north of Collins tracked northeast in rural agricultural fields. Damage only to crops. Tornado path was obtained via high resolution satellite imagery. |
| June 2018 | Heavy Rain | Collins | - | Public reported heavy rainfall of about 2 inches so far. |
| June 2018 | Heavy Rain | Collins | - | KWWL relayed a viewer report of heavy rainfall of about 3.5 inches so far. |
| August 2016 | Heavy Rain | Collins | - | Public reported storm total heavy rainfall of 2.00 inches. |
| May 2013 | Funnel Cloud | Collins | - | Rotating funnel cloud observed to the north near Collins. Dust stirred up at the ground below the funnel, but rotation was not observed. Lasted about 20 seconds. |
| April 2023 | Hail | Collins | - | no account filed |
| May 2023 | Hail | Collins | - | no account filed |
| May 2023 | Hail | Collins | - | no account filed |
| May 2002 | Hail | Collins | - | no account filed |
| July 2000 | Hail | Collins | - | 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.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maxwell | 5.0 miles | 8 | |
| Iowa Center | 5.5 miles | 8 | |
| Robison-Whitaker Acres | 7.0 miles | 8 | |
| Colo | 7.9 miles | 9 | |
| Nevada | 11.3 miles | 9 | |
| Cambridge | 11.8 miles | 11 | |
| Shipley | 12.1 miles | 11 | |
| Fernald | 12.5 miles | 9 |
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 Collins | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2239959 | 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 455536. 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.





