Estherville, Iowa
7 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Estherville Township. It lies in ZIP code area 51334. It stands on School Creek. The Survey maps it on the Estherville quadrangle. 5,904 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,296 feet above sea level.
Research this city
Population over time
2 figuresEstherville fell from 6,360 to 5,904 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 | 6,360 | |
| 2020 | 5,904 | -456 (-7%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
4 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 Fairmont quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Fairmont quadrangle1:250000
- 1972 USGS Estherville quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Estherville quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
1 since 2004Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of Estherville in 2004, burning about 59 acres in total. 1 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 |
|---|---|
| Natural | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 May 2004 | Natural | 59 acres | Iowa Wetland Management District | HERMSEN |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 13 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 13 workings within 5 miles of Estherville: 10 past producers, 3 producers. 3 still produce. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Estherville City Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Estherville Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Johnson Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Lucas Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| North Pit and Plant | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
60 of 87 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Estherville in 87 storm reports between 1994 and 2024: 34 thunderstorm wind, 33 hail, 6 flash flood, 6 heavy rain. 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 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Estherville | $200,000 | no account filed |
| July 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Estherville | $100,000 | no account filed |
| July 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Estherville | $50,000 | no account filed |
| March 2007 | Flood | Estherville | $50,000 | no account filed |
| May 1997 | Lightning | Estherville | $40,000 | no account filed |
| September 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Estherville | $30,000 | Public reported a dugout at a local baseball field was destroyed and that the bowling alley experienced partial roof destruction. This is a delayed report. |
| May 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Estherville | $30,000 | no account filed |
| March 2007 | Flash Flood | Estherville | $25,000 | no account filed |
| July 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Estherville | $25,000 | no account filed |
| July 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Estherville | $25,000 | no account filed |
| May 2007 | Flood | Estherville | $25,000 | no account filed |
| August 2006 | Flash Flood | Estherville | $25,000 | no account filed |
| May 2005 | Flash Flood | Estherville | $25,000 | no account filed |
| August 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Estherville | $25,000 | no account filed |
| September 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Estherville | $20,000 | Emergency manager reported a car wash roof completely removed and destroyed. Provided picture via social media. This is a delayed report and time and location estimated. |
| June 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Estherville | $20,000 | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Estherville | $20,000 | no account filed |
| May 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Estherville | $15,000 | Law Enforcement and Emergency Management reported several 3 to 5 inches tree limbs down throughout the town of Estherville. Some tree limbs were blocking roads. |
| June 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Estherville | $15,000 | Tree branches of 6 to 8 inches in diameter were blown down. |
| July 2008 | Lightning | Estherville | $15,000 | no account filed |
| July 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Estherville | $15,000 | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Hail | Estherville | $15,000 | no account filed |
| March 2010 | Flash Flood | Estherville | $10,000 | Water rose rapidly due to an ice jam on the west fork of the Des Moines River south of Estherville. The Parkland areas near the river in Estherville flooded. Low lying areas near the river also flooded. |
| July 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Estherville | $10,000 | no account filed |
| July 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Estherville | $10,000 | no account filed |
| October 2007 | Flood | Estherville | $10,000 | no account filed |
| June 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Estherville | $10,000 | no account filed |
| June 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Estherville | $5,000 | Public reported via social media that trees were down, along with torrential rainfall. |
| May 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Estherville | $5,000 | Wind gusts of 65 MPH were reported by law enforcement. |
| July 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Estherville | $5,000 | Very unstable air moved over the central U.S. This moist and unstable air overran a surface frontal boundary extending from central Minnesota, through eastern South Dakota, into western Kansas. Convective available potential energy was nearly 5000 J-Kg-1, with lifted indices in the -8 to -10 range given surface dew point temperatures in the middle to upper 70s. Thunderstorms erupted over north central Nebraska into south central and southeast South Dakota. The storms quickly organized into a mesoscale convective system, which took on a bow echo configuration as it traversed northeast Nebraska. The principle feature with this event was high winds. There was little significant hail and rainfall did not become excessive since the entire system was moving east at 45 MPH. Sixty to 70 MPH winds raked parts of northeast Nebraska and southeast South Dakota. The winds crossed the Iowa border around the stroke of midnight on the 5th. Trees were downed and power cut off in several areas. Some of the stronger winds moved through Crawford County. The storms produced 65 MPH winds in Monona County before gaining strength. In Crawford County, winds around 80 MPH ripped windows out of houses, caused some structural damage to others, and tore several barn doors off south and west of the town of Charter Oak. Ida Grove, in Ida County, was also hard hit by the high winds. Trees were downed and damage was reported to several houses. County sheriff reports from the county indicate that tree and power line damage was extensive around the county. The winds caused damage to crops in their path as well. Though the crop was not destroyed, some yield loss was expected as many farmers reported the corn crop leaning. Spotty damage was reported in the Iowa Great Lakes region as 70 MPH winds swept through the resort area. The damage was not severe, but some campers were tipped over by the wind. Winds around 75 MPH swept into Sioux County as well. Significant damage was done to buildings on a farmstead near Hawarden. Other structural damage occurred in Boyden. Lightning struck a house in Le Mars. The strike caused a gas line fire, however the fire was quickly contained. The storms weakened rapidly during the early morning hours. WSR-88D radar in Des Moines indicated the outflow boundary had advanced nearly 50 miles ahead of the line of thunderstorms. Shortly after the outflow advanced so far ahead of the system, rapid weakening occurred. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Estherville | $5,000 | no account filed |
| August 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Estherville | $5,000 | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Hail | Estherville | $5,000 | no account filed |
| April 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Estherville | $5,000 | no account filed |
| June 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Estherville | $5,000 | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Hail | Estherville | $5,000 | no account filed |
| July 1997 | Lightning | Estherville | $5,000 | no account filed |
| October 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Estherville | $5,000 | no account filed |
| June 1994 | Hail | Estherville | $5,000 | no account filed |
| September 1994 | Hail | Estherville | $5,000 | no account filed |
| September 1994 | Hail | Estherville | $5,000 | no account filed |
| July 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Estherville | $3,000 | no account filed |
| July 2005 | Hail | Estherville | $3,000 | no account filed |
| May 2002 | Hail | Estherville | $3,000 | no account filed |
| March 2005 | Hail | Estherville | $2,000 | no account filed |
| May 2005 | Hail | Estherville | $2,000 | no account filed |
| August 2005 | Hail | Estherville | $2,000 | no account filed |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Estherville | $2,000 | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | Estherville | $2,000 | no account filed |
| July 2022 | Tornado (EF0) | Estherville | $1,000 | This tornado was reported by local law enforcement with portions of it also captured on video. Some of the path was also evident in high resolution satellite imagery. This tornado remained mostly in open cropland doing damage to corn and beans. However, it did pass by a couple of farmsteads with EF0 damage to trees. |
| September 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Estherville | $1,000 | Public reported that a large tree was uprooted. This is a delayed report. |
| September 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Estherville | $1,000 | Public reported a tree uprooted. This is a delayed report. |
| July 2010 | Hail | Estherville | $1,000 | Mostly dime to nickel size hail reported. |
| July 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Estherville | $1,000 | no account filed |
| July 2000 | Hail | Estherville | $1,000 | no account filed |
| June 1999 | Hail | Estherville | $1,000 | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Hail | Estherville | $1,000 | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Hail | Estherville | $1,000 | no account filed |
| July 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Estherville | $1,000 | no account filed |
| May 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Estherville | - | Reports of multiple trees and branches broken off. Largest 1.5 ft in diameter. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raleigh | 4.7 miles | 7 | |
| Wallingford | 6.0 miles | 7 | |
| Huntington | 6.6 miles | 7 | |
| Gruver | 6.8 miles | 7 | |
| Bubona (historical) | 10.5 miles | 7 | |
| Maple Hill | 11.0 miles | 7 | |
| Dolliver | 11.8 miles | 7 | |
| Gridley | 13.8 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 Estherville | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q373546 | 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 456397. 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.



