Dow City, Iowa
8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1980. It stands in Union Township. It lies in ZIP code area 51528. It stands on Paradise Creek. The Survey maps it on the Dow City quadrangle. 485 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,142 feet above sea level.
On record in Dow City
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 1 record
Dow Houselisted 1972
Population over time
2 figuresDow City fell from 510 to 485 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 | 510 | |
| 2020 | 485 | -25 (-5%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 8 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 Omaha quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Omaha quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Omaha quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1971 USGS Dow City quadrangle1:24000
- 1980 USGS Harlan quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
15 since 2009Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 15 fires within 5 miles of Dow City between 2009 and 2019, burning about 107 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 burning | 7 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 August 2013 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 31 August 2013 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 30 April 2019 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 20 April 2019 | Debris and open burning | 30 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 16 April 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 11 April 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 17 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | 1724 UNION AVE, DOW CITY, IA 51528, IOWA |
| 1 April 2013 | Debris and open burning | 7.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 4 March 2017 | Debris and open burning | 1.5 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
5 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Dow City: 5 past producers. 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arion Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Ballantine Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Dow City Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Rogers Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
46 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Dow City in 46 storm reports between 1994 and 2021: 19 hail, 18 thunderstorm wind, 4 tornado, 4 flash 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 1998 | Tornado (F2) | Dow City | $500,000 | no account filed |
| July 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dow City | $30,000 | A shed was blown over in Dow City. |
| May 2008 | Tornado (EF0) | Dow City | $30,000 | Damage was done to a farm house with shingles removed and tree damage to the yard. Windows were also blown out of the house. |
| May 2008 | Flash Flood | Dow City | $25,000 | Highway 30 north of Dunlap was flooded. |
| June 2008 | Flash Flood | Dow City | $25,000 | The Crawford County Sheriff reported that Highway 30 was closed 2 miles southwest of Dow City due to flash flooding. |
| June 2008 | Flash Flood | Dow City | $25,000 | Water was reported over Highway 30 between Dow City and Dunlap, possibly from the Boyer River. Report received from the county Sheriff. |
| June 2008 | Flash Flood | Dow City | $25,000 | Water was covering Highway 30 from 1.5 miles southwest of Dow City to 3 miles southwest of Dow city. The state DOT was going to barricade the road. |
| July 1999 | Hail | Dow City | $25,000 | no account filed |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dow City | $20,000 | Dow City Fire Chief reported several power lines down across town. |
| October 1994 | Hail | Dow City | $20,000 | no account filed |
| May 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dow City | $15,000 | Trees were blown down across the highway and a shed was blown down. |
| May 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dow City | $10,000 | Wind gusts of around 70 MPH caused tree and power line damage. |
| July 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dow City | $10,000 | Winds estimated over 60 MPH bent crops over at a 45 degree angle along highway 30 just northeast of Dow City. |
| June 2001 | Hail | Dow City | $10,000 | no account filed |
| July 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dow City | $10,000 | no account filed |
| July 1996 | Hail | Dow City | $10,000 | no account filed |
| October 1994 | Hail | Dow City | $10,000 | no account filed |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dow City | $5,000 | Trained spotter reported several trees and tree limbs down. Time radar estimated. |
| August 2015 | Hail | Dow City | $5,000 | Public reported quarter to ping pong ball sized hail. Delayed report, and time estimated from radar. |
| May 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dow City | $5,000 | A spotter estimated wind gusts of near 65 MPH with some tree damage. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dow City | $5,000 | Power lines were blown down. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dow City | $5,000 | Tree limb damage was reported. |
| September 2010 | Hail | Dow City | $5,000 | Dime to quarter size hail was partially covering the ground. |
| March 2007 | Hail | Dow City | $5,000 | no account filed |
| March 2007 | Hail | Dow City | $5,000 | no account filed |
| May 2007 | Hail | Dow City | $5,000 | no account filed |
| July 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dow City | $5,000 | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dow City | $5,000 | no account filed |
| August 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dow City | $3,000 | There to four inch diameter limbs were blown from trees by high winds. |
| June 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dow City | $3,000 | no account filed |
| May 2011 | Hail | Dow City | $2,000 | Mostly nickel size hail with a few quarter sized stones. |
| May 2011 | Hail | Dow City | $2,000 | Nickel to quarter size hail. |
| July 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dow City | $2,000 | no account filed |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dow City | $2,000 | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dow City | $500 | no account filed |
| August 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dow City | - | Delayed report of several large trees down early Saturday morning. Time estimated via radar. |
| December 2021 | Tornado (EFU) | Dow City | - | First tornado in the Des Moines forecast area for this record breaking event. This tornado remained in rural Crawford county with no reported damage. Tornado was determined by Correlation Coefficient depression on WSR-88D radar from KOAX. |
| May 2018 | Hail | Dow City | - | Public reported nickel sized hail. |
| August 2014 | Tornado (EF0) | Dow City | - | First of many tornadoes to occur on this day. Path was intermittent initially becoming more intense with time. There was video of the parent circulation but path and rating determined by high resolution satellite data. |
| May 2013 | Heavy Rain | Dow City | - | Rainfall total was unknown, but street flooding was reported around Dunlap. Pea size hail was also reported. |
| August 2014 | Hail | Dow City | - | no account filed |
| August 2011 | Hail | Dow City | - | no account filed |
| September 2010 | Hail | Dow City | - | no account filed |
| September 2010 | Hail | Dow City | - | no account filed |
| May 2007 | Hail | Dow City | - | no account filed |
| September 2004 | Hail | Dow City | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bell (historical) | 2.0 miles | 8 | |
| Arion | 2.1 miles | 8 | |
| Haley | 3.7 miles | 8 | |
| Buck Grove | 5.2 miles | 8 | |
| Kenwood | 5.6 miles | 8 | |
| Kimze | 7.1 miles | 8 | |
| Sunset Village | 8.1 miles | 8 | |
| Denison | 9.6 miles | 8 |
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 Dow City | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1873381 | 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 455969. 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.




