Colwell, Iowa
7 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Niles Township. It lies in ZIP code area 50620. The Survey maps it on the Colwell quadrangle. 55 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,152 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresColwell fell from 73 to 55 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 | 73 | |
| 2020 | 55 | -18 (-25%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 7 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 Mason City quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Mason City quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Mason City quadrangle1:250000
- 1971 USGS Colwell quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Charles City quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
5 since 2006Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 5 fires within 5 miles of Colwell between 2006 and 2018, burning about 214 acres 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/undetermined | 3 |
| Debris and open burning | 2 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 April 2018 | Debris and open burning | 150 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 24 April 2018 | Debris and open burning | 12 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 30 March 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 19 March 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | 3330 170TH ST., IA |
| 18 March 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
4 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Colwell: 2 unknowns, 2 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, 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.
Storms near this place
15 since 1995Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Colwell in 15 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 8 thunderstorm wind, 6 hail, 1 flood. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colwell | $50,000 | A metal grain bin was destroyed by thunderstorm winds. |
| July 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colwell | $25,000 | no account filed |
| August 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colwell | $3,000 | Large tree branches were blown down in Colwell. The power was also out and was thought to be from lightning hitting a transformer. |
| August 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colwell | $2,000 | Trees were blown down south of Colwell. |
| July 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colwell | $1,000 | A 62 mph wind gust occurred in Colwell blowing down some tree branches. |
| May 2025 | Hail | Colwell | - | A trained spotter reported quarter sized hail 1 mile north-northwest of Colwell. |
| April 2025 | Hail | Colwell | - | The public reported ping pong ball sized hail about 3 miles west-southwest of Colwell. |
| August 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colwell | - | A trained spotter estimated a 60 mph wind gust near Colwell. |
| August 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colwell | - | The public reported a 4-inch diameter tree limb down three miles west of Colwell. |
| March 2023 | Hail | Colwell | - | Half dollar sized hail was reported near Colwell. |
| August 2021 | Flood | Colwell | - | A road was closed south of Colwell due to flood waters from the Cedar River. |
| May 2017 | Hail | Colwell | - | Quarter sized hail fell east of Floyd. |
| May 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colwell | - | An estimated 70 mph wind gust occurred in Colwell. |
| March 2017 | Hail | Colwell | - | no account filed |
| May 2003 | Hail | Colwell | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nilesville | 1.5 miles | 7 | |
| Doubleday (historical) | 5.2 miles | 7 | |
| Howardville | 6.7 miles | 7 | |
| Charles City | 7.4 miles | 7 | |
| Floyd | 7.8 miles | 7 | |
| Floyd Crossing | 9.0 miles | 7 | |
| Carrville | 10.2 miles | 7 | |
| Midway | 10.4 miles | 7 |
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 Colwell | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q588751 | 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 455549. 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.




