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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.

Colwell within Floyd County

Population over time

2 figures

Colwell 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.

YearPeople Change
201073
202055-18 (-25%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 7 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

5 since 2006

Regional 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/undetermined3
Debris and open burning2

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
25 April 2018Debris and open burning150 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
24 April 2018Debris and open burning12 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
30 March 2009Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
19 March 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined50 acresIowa Department of Natural Resources3330 170TH ST., IA
18 March 2006Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Floyd County

Mines and quarries near this place

4 within 5 miles

Regional 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.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
UnknownStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown

Every working recorded in Floyd County

Storms near this place

15 since 1995

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2010Thunderstorm WindColwell$50,000A metal grain bin was destroyed by thunderstorm winds.
July 1995Thunderstorm WindColwell$25,000no account filed
August 2014Thunderstorm WindColwell$3,000Large tree branches were blown down in Colwell. The power was also out and was thought to be from lightning hitting a transformer.
August 2014Thunderstorm WindColwell$2,000Trees were blown down south of Colwell.
July 2017Thunderstorm WindColwell$1,000A 62 mph wind gust occurred in Colwell blowing down some tree branches.
May 2025HailColwell-A trained spotter reported quarter sized hail 1 mile north-northwest of Colwell.
April 2025HailColwell-The public reported ping pong ball sized hail about 3 miles west-southwest of Colwell.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindColwell-A trained spotter estimated a 60 mph wind gust near Colwell.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindColwell-The public reported a 4-inch diameter tree limb down three miles west of Colwell.
March 2023HailColwell-Half dollar sized hail was reported near Colwell.
August 2021FloodColwell-A road was closed south of Colwell due to flood waters from the Cedar River.
May 2017HailColwell-Quarter sized hail fell east of Floyd.
May 2017Thunderstorm WindColwell-An estimated 70 mph wind gust occurred in Colwell.
March 2017HailColwell-no account filed
May 2003HailColwell-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Floyd 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
Nilesville1.5 miles7
Doubleday (historical)5.2 miles7
Howardville6.7 miles7
Charles City7.4 miles7
Floyd7.8 miles7
Floyd Crossing9.0 miles7
Carrville10.2 miles7
Midway10.4 miles7

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 ColwellAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q588751The 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.