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Cresco, Iowa

7 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Vernon Springs Township. It lies in ZIP code area 52136. The Survey maps it on the Cresco NE quadrangle. 3,888 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,293 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Cresco within Howard County

On record in Cresco

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 5 records

Population over time

2 figures

Cresco grew from 3,868 to 3,888 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
20103,868
20203,888+20 (+1%)

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

15 since 2007

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 15 fires within 5 miles of Cresco between 2007 and 2020, burning about 178 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
Debris and open burning10
Missing data/not specified/undetermined4
Equipment and vehicle use1

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
3 May 2020Debris and open burning20 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
9 April 2019Debris and open burning6.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
5 April 2015Debris and open burning20 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
4 April 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
4 April 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
20 April 2019Debris and open burning2.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
19 April 2014Debris and open burning4.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
18 April 2014Debris and open burning10 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Howard County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 14 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 14 workings within 5 miles of Cresco: 7 past producers, 6 producers, 1 unknown. 6 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, 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
Eckerman PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
AlbertsonStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
BalkStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Bauer QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Daley QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
E RobertsStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Earl Roberts QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Eckerman QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer

Every working recorded in Howard County

Storms near this place

43 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Cresco in 43 storm reports between 1994 and 2020: 15 thunderstorm wind, 14 hail, 3 funnel cloud, 3 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 1994Thunderstorm WindCresco$500,000no account filed
June 1998Thunderstorm WindCresco$85,000no account filed
September 2018LightningCresco$50,000A fire at an assisted living facility in Cresco was started by a lightning strike. A portion of the building sustained heavy damage but all the residents were safely evacuated.
July 1997Tornado (F0)Cresco$35,000no account filed
July 2000Thunderstorm WindCresco$30,000no account filed
June 1998Thunderstorm WindCresco$10,000no account filed
June 1998Flash FloodCresco$10,000no account filed
April 1997Thunderstorm WindCresco$10,000no account filed
July 2002Thunderstorm WindCresco$7,500no account filed
August 2014Thunderstorm WindCresco$5,000Farm buildings north of Cresco were damaged by high winds.
October 2012LightningCresco$5,000A oak tree in Cresco, estimated to be at least 150 years old, had to be cut down after a lightning strike seriously damaged the tree. The lightning strike also took out the controller card to some nearby stoplights.
August 2007Flash FloodCresco$5,000Sheriff deputy reported that gravel roads had washouts throughout the county. Time estimated.
September 1995HailCresco$5,000Two frontal systems were moving southeast across the central United States. The first cold front was Pacific in origin and was quite weak. A much stronger cold front dropped southeast from Canada and entered Iowa during the afternoon. The air mass was capped in the mid levels. CAPE values were in the 2000-3000 J-kg-1 range ahead of the Canadian cold front. Surface dew point temperatures in the lower 70s F. Strong thunderstorms developed over north central Iowa and moved into the northeast counties. The produced brief heavy rainfall and gusty winds for the most part. A few storms produced hail during the early evening hours as colder air moved in aloft. Three-quarter-inch diameter hail fell in several locations over northeast Iowa. Golf ball-size hail fell in a few locations. Both Applington, in Butler County, and New Haven, in Mitchell County, reported golf ball-size hail.
April 1995Thunderstorm WindCresco$3,000Scattered thunderstorms moved across northern Iowa during the evening hours. There were numerous reports of pea- to marble-size hail with them, covering the ground in some locations. The gradient winds were quite strong during the evening. Minor damage occurred in Cresco as one storm produced winds of 58 mph.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindCresco$3,000no account filed
August 2000Thunderstorm WindCresco$2,500no account filed
July 2006Thunderstorm WindCresco$2,000no account filed
July 2003Thunderstorm WindCresco$2,000no account filed
May 1996HailCresco$2,000no account filed
July 2003HailCresco$1,000no account filed
July 1995HailCresco$1,000no account filed
July 2003HailCresco$800no account filed
April 2001Thunderstorm WindCresco$500no account filed
June 1998Thunderstorm WindCresco$200no account filed
June 2020Funnel CloudCresco-A funnel cloud was sighted near Cresco.
June 2018Heavy RainCresco-The COOP observer near Cresco measured 3.37 inches of rain.
August 2016Heavy RainCresco-The COOP observer near Cresco measured 6.04 inches of rain.
June 2015HailCresco-Half dollar sized hail was reported near Cresco.
June 2015FloodCresco-Locally heavy rain caused street flooding to occur in Cresco, temporarily causing law enforcement to close off some streets.
June 2014FloodCresco-Runoff from heavy rains caused street flooding to occur in Cresco.
July 2012FloodCresco-Numerous streets were flooded in Cresco and the water was deep enough in the downtown area to go over the curbs and threatened to go into some businesses. The flooding was produced by 2.65 inches of rain that fell in an hour and a half.
July 2009HailCresco-Hail was accompanied with wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph, which damaged crops.
July 2009HailCresco-Dime size hail combined with strong winds damaged corn fields.
May 2012HailCresco-no account filed
June 2009HailCresco-no account filed
June 2007HailCresco-no account filed
July 2005Funnel CloudCresco-no account filed
June 2003HailCresco-no account filed
July 2003HailCresco-no account filed
July 2003HailCresco-no account filed
June 1998Thunderstorm WindCresco-no account filed
June 1998Tornado (F0)Cresco-no account filed
July 1997Funnel CloudCresco-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Howard 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
Vernon Springs2.5 miles7
Bonair5.0 miles7
Schley7.7 miles7
Florenceville8.2 miles7
Forest City (historical)9.7 miles7
Davis Corners9.8 miles7
Lime Springs10.0 miles7
Lidtke Mill10.4 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 CrescoAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1914623The 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 455712. 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.