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Grinnell, Iowa

8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Grinnell City. It lies in ZIP code area 50112. The Survey maps it on the Grinnell South quadrangle. 9,564 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,014 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Grinnell within Poweshiek County

On record in Grinnell

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 12 of 18 shown

Every listing in Poweshiek County

Population over time

2 figures

Grinnell grew from 9,218 to 9,564 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
20109,218
20209,564+346 (+4%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 8 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

26 since 2006

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 26 fires within 5 miles of Grinnell between 2006 and 2018, burning about 207 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/undetermined19
Debris and open burning7

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
30 September 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resources20TH ST. , IA
7 May 2006Missing data/not specified/undetermined100 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
19 May 2006Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
8 April 2006Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
6 April 2018Missing data/not specified/undetermined15 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
6 April 2013Debris and open burningunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
5 April 2013Debris and open burning1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
4 April 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Poweshiek County

Storms near this place

60 of 87 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Grinnell in 87 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 29 thunderstorm wind, 29 heavy rain, 22 hail, 3 lightning. The reports record 7 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 2010HailGrinnell6 hurt, $500,000no account filed
May 2000Thunderstorm WindGrinnell1 hurt, $150,000no account filed
April 2010Thunderstorm WindGrinnell$3,000,000On the north edge of Grinnell, cars were reported off the road and flipped. Power lines were down and roofs were blown off homes.
June 2010LightningGrinnell$550,000no account filed
October 2018FloodGrinnell$100,000Emergency manager reported water over a few gravel roads near Grinnell north of Interstate 80 and other county roads closed near Searsboro due to flooding.
May 2013Flash FloodGrinnell$100,000Roads in the city covered with water and impassible.
April 2010Thunderstorm WindGrinnell$100,000Two barns were blown down just west of Grinnell.
April 2010Thunderstorm WindGrinnell$75,000Damage was caused to several homes in Grinnell.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindGrinnell$50,000Emergency manager reported damage to utility poles, power lines down including high voltage lines, and debris throughout the city blocking streets. Time estimated from AWOS gusts.
September 2018FloodGrinnell$50,000Law enforcement reported several county and rural roads across the county were under water from the heavy rainfall.
August 2016Thunderstorm WindGrinnell$50,000Local newspaper reported at least 15 to 20 trees down across the northern side of Grinnell, some 3 to 4 feet in diameter. Multiple trees fell and damaged building and house roofs. At least 12000 people without power in the area. Delayed report, and time estimated from radar.
April 2014Thunderstorm WindGrinnell$50,000Damage to outbuildings and a trailer was caused by high thunderstorm winds.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindGrinnell$50,000Trees down, transformers down, and power outages.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindGrinnell$50,000Numerous tree limbs down across town and the power was out.
May 2003HailGrinnell$50,000no account filed
May 2003HailGrinnell$50,000no account filed
May 2003HailGrinnell$50,000no account filed
June 1998FloodGrinnell$50,000no account filed
July 2008Thunderstorm WindGrinnell$40,000The roof was blown off of the Farm Bureau Service building in Grinnell.
June 2010LightningGrinnell$25,000no account filed
March 2004Thunderstorm WindGrinnell$25,000no account filed
June 1998Thunderstorm WindGrinnell$25,000no account filed
June 1998Thunderstorm WindGrinnell$25,000no account filed
July 2011Thunderstorm WindGrinnell$15,000Numerous trees uprooted and blown down by high winds.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindGrinnell$15,000Tree damage on the Grinnell College campus.
May 2003HailGrinnell$15,000no account filed
May 2003HailGrinnell$15,000no account filed
May 2003HailGrinnell$15,000no account filed
June 2012Thunderstorm WindGrinnell$10,000Three to four tree limbs three to five inches in diameter down. One branch was 20 feet long.
April 2010Thunderstorm WindGrinnell$10,000Sheet metal was blown down and there was street sign damage.
May 2005Thunderstorm WindGrinnell$10,000no account filed
June 2001HailGrinnell$10,000no account filed
June 2005HailGrinnell$5,000no account filed
September 2005Thunderstorm WindGrinnell$5,000no account filed
June 1998LightningGrinnell$5,000no account filed
June 1997HailGrinnell$5,000no account filed
June 1994Thunderstorm WindGrinnell$5,000no account filed
June 2008Thunderstorm WindGrinnell$3,000Estimated winds of 60 to 65 MPH from the Grinnell College Security personnel.
July 2014HailGrinnell$3,000no account filed
April 2010HailGrinnell$3,000no account filed
July 1995Thunderstorm WindGrinnell$3,000no account filed
April 2014Thunderstorm WindGrinnell$2,000Trees down in the area caused by high thunderstorm winds.
June 2012Thunderstorm WindGrinnell$2,000A trained spotter estimated winds of 60 MPH.
April 2010Thunderstorm WindGrinnell$2,000Two power poles were blown down and damage was reported to small buildings.
October 2004HailGrinnell$2,000no account filed
October 2004Thunderstorm WindGrinnell$2,000no account filed
July 2000HailGrinnell$2,000no account filed
July 2000HailGrinnell$2,000no account filed
July 2011Thunderstorm WindGrinnell$1,000no account filed
June 2005HailGrinnell$1,000no account filed
June 2003HailGrinnell$1,000no account filed
June 2025Heavy RainGrinnell-Rain total of 3 inches from the morning storms.
June 2025Heavy RainGrinnell-Morning total of 5.1 inches from storms.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindGrinnell-Delayed report of tree damage, solar farm damage, and large branches downed mainly on the north side of Grinnell.
May 2023HailGrinnell-Report via social media.
June 2020Heavy RainGrinnell-CoCoRaHS observer recorded 3.70 inches of rainfall over the last 24 hours.
June 2020Heavy RainGrinnell-Public weather station measured 3.3 inches of rain. Beginning time estimated by radar.
October 2019Heavy RainGrinnell-Public reported heavy rainfall of 5.78 inches over the past 24 hours.
October 2019Heavy RainGrinnell-CoCoRaHS observer recorded heavy rainfall of 4.25 inches over the past 24 hours.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindGrinnell-Grinnell Airport AWOS recorded a 63 mph wind gust.

Every storm recorded in Poweshiek 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
Westfield3.4 miles8
Jacobs6.1 miles8
Malcom9.0 miles8
Ewart9.2 miles8
Sheridan9.4 miles8
Searsboro11.3 miles8
Brooklyn14.7 miles8
Montezuma15.0 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 GrinnellAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1903250The 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 457150. 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.