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Forest City, Iowa

7 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Forest Township. It lies in ZIP code area 50436. It stands on Buffalo Creek. The Survey maps it on the Forest City quadrangle. 4,285 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,257 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Forest City within Winnebago County

On record in Forest 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 3 records

Population over time

2 figures

Forest City grew from 4,151 to 4,285 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
20104,151
20204,285+134 (+3%)

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

1 since 2006

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of Forest City in 2006, burning about 10 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/undetermined1

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
13 April 2006Missing data/not specified/undetermined10 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Winnebago 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 Forest City: 8 past producers, 3 producers, 3 unknowns. 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Forest City PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Friedman PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Hanna PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Laharv PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Laharve PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Leland PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Otis PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Winnebago County

Storms near this place

60 of 71 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Forest City in 71 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 25 hail, 23 thunderstorm wind, 14 heavy rain, 3 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 1997HailForest City$1,500,000no account filed
May 1998Thunderstorm WindForest City$75,000no account filed
June 1998Flash FloodForest City$75,000no account filed
July 2016Thunderstorm WindForest City$50,000Emergency Manager reported trees downed and uprooted along with a camper destroyed by a fallen tree. Time radar estimated.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindForest City$50,000High winds cause tree damage and damage to houses.
June 1994Thunderstorm WindForest City$50,000no account filed
August 1997LightningForest City$30,000no account filed
June 1997HailForest City$30,000no account filed
July 2017Thunderstorm WindForest City$25,000County dispatch reported multiple broken windows, power lines down, and trees downed in town. Time estimated from radar and this is a delayed report.
August 2007Flash FloodForest City$25,000no account filed
May 1998Thunderstorm WindForest City$25,000no account filed
June 1995Thunderstorm WindForest City$25,000no account filed
November 2003Thunderstorm WindForest City$15,000no account filed
June 2018Flash FloodForest City$10,000Emergency manager reported 2 to 3 feet of water over Highway 9 and Highway 69 in Forest City and roads were going to be closed.
May 2010Thunderstorm WindForest City$10,000Power poles were downed near Forest City.
May 2003HailForest City$10,000no account filed
May 1999LightningForest City$10,000no account filed
June 1995Thunderstorm WindForest City$10,000no account filed
July 2016Thunderstorm WindForest City$5,000There was a report of a large tree blocking Highway 69.
June 2016HailForest City$5,000Quarter size hail was reported lasting a long time, and then heavy rain after.
September 2011Thunderstorm WindForest City$5,000A street sign was blown over and a large trampoline flipped. Several large limbs down.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindForest City$5,000Numerous trees were blown over.
May 2005HailForest City$5,000no account filed
April 2001HailForest City$5,000no account filed
April 2001HailForest City$5,000no account filed
June 2001HailForest City$5,000no account filed
June 1995HailForest City$5,000no account filed
July 1994Tornado (F0)Forest City$5,000no account filed
July 1994HailForest City$5,000no account filed
October 1994Thunderstorm WindForest City$5,000no account filed
August 2013HailForest City$3,000Hail up to the size of quarters covered the ground.
May 2012HailForest City$3,000no account filed
May 2012HailForest City$3,000no account filed
June 2005Thunderstorm WindForest City$3,000no account filed
May 2005HailForest City$2,000no account filed
July 2003Thunderstorm WindForest City$2,000no account filed
November 2003Thunderstorm WindForest City$2,000no account filed
July 1999Thunderstorm WindForest City$2,000no account filed
July 2025Thunderstorm WindForest City$1,000Corn stalks blown over and tree limbs down.
May 2004HailForest City$1,000no account filed
August 2022Heavy RainForest City-A 24 hour rainfall total of 3.75 inches.
July 2022HailForest City-A trained spotter reported a few hail stones up to half dollar sized.
July 2022Thunderstorm WindForest City-Trees 12 inches in diameter down and power lines down. A few trees uprooted. Time estimated from radar.
July 2019Thunderstorm WindForest City-Several spotters reported tree limbs, about 3 to 4 inches in diameter, have been downed.
June 2018Heavy RainForest City-Public reported heavy rainfall of 4 inches.
June 2018Heavy RainForest City-Coop observer reported heavy rainfall of 2.88 inches over the last 24 hours.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindForest City-Trained spotter reported branches down around town up to about 6 inches in diameter. This is a delayed report and time estimated from radar.
September 2018Heavy RainForest City-Coop observer recorded heavy rainfall of 2.34 inches over the last 24 hours.
September 2018Heavy RainForest City-Coop observer recorded heavy rainfall of 4.32 inches over the last 24 hours.
October 2017Heavy RainForest City-Trained spotter reported heavy rainfall of 3.1 inches measured since midnight.
July 2016Heavy RainForest City-Coop observer measured heavy rainfall of 2.60 inches over the last 24 hours.
September 2016Heavy RainForest City-Coop observer KIOW Radio recorded heavy rainfall of 3.05 inches over the last 24 hours.
September 2016Heavy RainForest City-Trained spotter reported heavy rainfall of 2.30 inches.
September 2016Heavy RainForest City-Coop observer reported heavy rainfall of 2.70 inches over the last 24 hours.
September 2016Heavy RainForest City-Coop observer reported heavy rainfall of 2.25 inches.
June 2015HailForest City-Public reported quarter size hail and relayed by the Sheriff's office.
December 2015Heavy RainForest City-Coop observer reported heavy rainfall of 1.72 inches over the last 48 hours/storm total so far.
June 2014Thunderstorm WindForest City-Several power lines down and tree limbs down throughout town.
May 2013Heavy RainForest City-Rainfall of 2.20 inches recorded.
July 2013Funnel CloudForest City-A trained spotter and member of the public both reported a funnel cloud just west to southwest of Forest City.

Every storm recorded in Winnebago 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
Leland5.2 miles7
Ratna (historical)6.2 miles8
Thompson10.4 miles7
Lake Mills12.1 miles7
Scarville14.4 miles7
Vinje14.7 miles7
Amund (historical)16.7 miles7
Norman (historical)17.5 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 Forest CityAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1913741The 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 456667. 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.