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Creston, Iowa

9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1993. It stands in Creston City. It lies in ZIP code area 50801. The Survey maps it on the Creston East quadrangle. 7,536 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,312 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Creston within Union County

On record in Creston

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 4 records

Population over time

4 figures

Creston grew from 411 to 7,536 between 1870 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
1870411
20007,597
20107,834+237 (+3%)
20207,536-298 (-4%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 9 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

37 since 2006

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 37 fires within 5 miles of Creston between 2006 and 2020, burning about 538 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 burning18
Missing data/not specified/undetermined10
Smoking4
Equipment and vehicle use2
Arson/incendiarism1
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Recreation and ceremony1

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 August 2012Debris and open burning20 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
1 August 2013Smokingunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
18 July 2012Debris and open burning1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
7 April 2013Debris and open burning80 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
7 April 2008Missing data/not specified/undetermined5.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
5 April 2018Debris and open burning1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
5 April 2018Debris and open burning20 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
5 April 2013Debris and open burning75 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Union County

Storms near this place

60 of 133 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Creston in 133 storm reports between 1994 and 2024: 58 thunderstorm wind, 41 hail, 15 heavy rain, 8 flash flood. The reports record 2 injuries. 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
April 1999Tornado (F4)Creston1 hurt, $2,000,000no account filed
May 1998Thunderstorm WindCreston1 hurt, $10,000no account filed
April 2012Thunderstorm WindCreston$250,000Twenty inch tree down with other large trees uprooted.
September 2003Tornado (F0)Creston$250,000Tornado cut a continous path from south of Creston through the town of Creston.
June 2010Flash FloodCreston$100,000Manhole cover was lifted due to rushing water at the intersection of Highway 34 and Elm St. Some underpasses submerged on Osage St.
June 2008Flash FloodCreston$100,000Cherry Street north of Creston was closed due to high water.
June 2010FloodCreston$100,000no account filed
May 2004Flash FloodCreston$100,000no account filed
June 1997Thunderstorm WindCreston$75,000no account filed
April 2024Tornado (EF1)Creston$50,000Emergency management found damage along this path in north central Union County. The tornado formed about 5 miles northeast of Creston and remained in rural areas of the county. It impacted 3 different farmsteads producing up to EF1 damage to outbuildings at one of the sites. The tornado dissipated a few miles northwest of the northern end of Three Mile Lake.
December 2021Thunderstorm WindCreston$50,000Emergency manager reported a tree down on a powerline and house. Time estimated from radar.
August 2011Thunderstorm WindCreston$50,000Trained spotter reports a measured wind gust of 71 MPH. Trees were uprooted on the west side of Creston with some roof damage.
May 2001LightningCreston$50,000no account filed
May 1996FloodCreston$50,000no account filed
March 2006Tornado (F0)Creston$40,000Tornado touched down briefly west of Creston. Damage was done to an attached two-car breezeway and tore it away from the house. There was little apparent damage to the car inside.
May 2011LightningCreston$40,000no account filed
September 2001Thunderstorm WindCreston$40,000no account filed
June 2018Thunderstorm WindCreston$30,000Amateur radio operator reported power lines down along Highway 34 in Creston.
May 2013HailCreston$25,000Golf ball size hail was reported on the northeast side of Creston.
May 2013HailCreston$25,000Golf ball size hail covering the ground. Lasted 12 minutes.
June 2011Flash FloodCreston$25,000Several road intersections impassable within the Creston city limits due to fast moving water.
June 2008Tornado (EF1)Creston$25,000The roof was taken off of an outbuilding and power lines were blown down north of Creston.
July 2006Thunderstorm WindCreston$25,000no account filed
May 2004Flash FloodCreston$25,000no account filed
September 2022HailCreston$20,000Hail damage to vehicles with one possibly totaled. Delayed report, time estimated by radar.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindCreston$20,000Law enforcement reported trees and power lines down in Creston. Time estimated from radar.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindCreston$20,000no account filed
March 1996Thunderstorm WindCreston$20,000no account filed
May 2008Thunderstorm WindCreston$15,000The Creston High School in the Union County Schoolnet reported winds of 60 MPH.
May 2013HailCreston$15,000no account filed
June 2010Thunderstorm WindCreston$15,000no account filed
June 2006HailCreston$15,000no account filed
May 1998Thunderstorm WindCreston$15,000no account filed
April 2012HailCreston$10,000Nickel to quarter size hail.
May 2011Flash FloodCreston$10,000Union County Law Enforcement reported the Osage Railroad bridge was impassible due to water over the road. One car was stranded.
August 2011Thunderstorm WindCreston$10,000A tree fell onto a house.
June 2011Flash FloodCreston$10,000Closure of 160th Street due to water over road.
June 2011Flash FloodCreston$10,000Water flowing over the road at several locations near the intersection of 140th Street and Highway 25.
April 2014HailCreston$10,000no account filed
April 2006Thunderstorm WindCreston$10,000no account filed
June 1996Thunderstorm WindCreston$10,000no account filed
August 2015HailCreston$5,000Amateur radio report of quarter sized hail in Creston.
May 2011HailCreston$5,000Quarter size hail and 40-50 MPH winds at 160th and Highway 25.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindCreston$5,000Numerous branches broken off by high winds.
July 2009Heavy RainCreston$5,000Reports of ponding of water in the underpasses in Creston, specifically on Osage Street. Rainfall so far 1.84 inches.
June 2008HailCreston$5,000Quarter size hail was reported in Creston.
September 2007Thunderstorm WindCreston$5,000A KCCI TV schoolnet site at Creston high school recorded a 61 knot wind. Small branches were reported down across town.
April 2014HailCreston$5,000no account filed
May 2013HailCreston$5,000no account filed
July 2009LightningCreston$5,000no account filed
June 2008HailCreston$5,000no account filed
August 2007Thunderstorm WindCreston$5,000no account filed
April 2006Thunderstorm WindCreston$5,000no account filed
June 2006HailCreston$5,000no account filed
September 2006Thunderstorm WindCreston$5,000no account filed
May 2003Thunderstorm WindCreston$5,000no account filed
August 2002Thunderstorm WindCreston$5,000no account filed
June 2000Thunderstorm WindCreston$5,000no account filed
June 2000Thunderstorm WindCreston$5,000no account filed
May 1998Thunderstorm WindCreston$5,000no account filed

Every storm recorded in Union 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
East Creston1.4 miles9
Cromwell5.5 miles9
Spaulding7.2 miles9
Kent8.8 miles8
Afton8.9 miles11
Arispe10.7 miles8
Shepard (historical)12.0 miles8
Shannon City12.0 miles8

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 CrestonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q745062The 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 455716. 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.

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.