BlockBefore

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.

Collins within Story County

Population over time

2 figures

Collins 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.

YearPeople Change
2010495
20204950 (0%)

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.

Fires near this place

6 since 2009

Regional 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 burning4
Arson/incendiarism1
Missing data/not specified/undetermined1

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
7 May 2018Debris and open burning2.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
3 May 2012Debris and open burning3.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
3 April 2019Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
3 April 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
12 March 2012Debris and open burning15 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
10 March 2012Debris and open burning5.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Story County

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 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Powers PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Story County

Storms near this place

35 since 1993

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 2000Thunderstorm WindCollins$100,000no account filed
June 2018Flash FloodCollins$50,000Emergency manager relayed that a citizen estimated around 4 inches of water over Highway 65 at 4th St in Collins.
August 2010Flash FloodCollins$50,000Estimated 6 inches of water flowing over the road at the intersection of 4th and 2nd Ave.
August 1993Thunderstorm WindCollins$50,000no account filed
September 2004Tornado (F1)Collins$30,000Tornado damaged 4 outbuildings and downed trees. Tornado tracked northeast and terminated 3 miles northeast of Collins.
May 2001Thunderstorm WindCollins$20,000no account filed
July 2011Thunderstorm WindCollins$10,000Shed destroyed.
June 2000Thunderstorm WindCollins$10,000no account filed
June 2011HailCollins$5,000no account filed
August 2004Thunderstorm WindCollins$5,000no account filed
August 2003Thunderstorm WindCollins$5,000no account filed
June 2001HailCollins$5,000no account filed
June 1994HailCollins$5,000no account filed
June 2011HailCollins$3,000Trained spotter reported quarter size hail at the intersection of 690th and 295th northwest of Collins. Relayed by county EM.
June 2011HailCollins$1,000no account filed
May 2024FloodCollins-Water over streets in town with fields draining of water. Many gravel roads flooding.
May 2023Thunderstorm WindCollins-Grain bin blown into field, time estimated by radar.
May 2023Thunderstorm WindCollins-Report of power lines down heading eastbound on 310th street from Collins. Timing estimated by radar.
July 2020HailCollins-Emergency manager reported ping pong ball sized hail.
July 2020HailCollins-Emergency manager reported 2 inch hail.
July 2020HailCollins-A public report via social media of nickel sized hail.
September 2019Thunderstorm WindCollins-Storm chaser reported thunderstorm wind gusts of 61 mph via personal equipment. Report came via social media.
September 2019Thunderstorm WindCollins-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 2018Thunderstorm WindCollins-Trained spotter reported at least 60 mph wind gusts and heavy rainfall. Ditches were also full of water.
May 2018HailCollins-Public reported quarter sized hail falling.
July 2018Tornado (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 2018Heavy RainCollins-Public reported heavy rainfall of about 2 inches so far.
June 2018Heavy RainCollins-KWWL relayed a viewer report of heavy rainfall of about 3.5 inches so far.
August 2016Heavy RainCollins-Public reported storm total heavy rainfall of 2.00 inches.
May 2013Funnel CloudCollins-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 2023HailCollins-no account filed
May 2023HailCollins-no account filed
May 2023HailCollins-no account filed
May 2002HailCollins-no account filed
July 2000HailCollins-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Story 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
Maxwell5.0 miles8
Iowa Center5.5 miles8
Robison-Whitaker Acres7.0 miles8
Colo7.9 miles9
Nevada11.3 miles9
Cambridge11.8 miles11
Shipley12.1 miles11
Fernald12.5 miles9

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 CollinsAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2239959The 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.