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Johnston, Iowa

17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1905 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Webster Township. It lies in ZIP code area 50131. The Survey maps it on the Des Moines NW quadrangle. 24,064 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 830 feet above sea level.

Johnston within Polk County

On record in Johnston

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 2 records

Population over time

2 figures

Johnston grew from 17,278 to 24,064 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
201017,278
202024,064+6,786 (+39%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 17 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

17 since 2006

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 17 fires within 5 miles of Johnston between 2006 and 2019, burning about 50 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/undetermined10
Equipment and vehicle use7

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
8 July 2015Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
2 July 2011Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIowa Department of Natural ResourcesU.S 20 @ N-57, IA
3 June 2018Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
2 June 2018Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
19 May 2016Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural ResourcesCAMP DODGE
17 May 2014Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
14 May 2016Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural ResourcesCAMP DODGE
5 April 2014Missing data/not specified/undetermined10 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Polk County

Mines and quarries near this place

7 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 7 workings within 5 miles of Johnston: 4 past producers, 3 producers. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay, Zinc. 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
Drill HoleZincPast ProducerSphalerite
Can-Tex Industries West PitClayProducer
Iowa Clay Pipe Co. PitClayPast Producer
Des Moines North Pit & PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Johnston Pit & PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Morning Star PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Polk County

Storms near this place

60 of 67 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Johnston in 67 storm reports between 1994 and 2024: 26 hail, 17 thunderstorm wind, 9 lightning, 9 heavy rain. The reports record 3 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 2001LightningJohnston2 hurt, $100,000no account filed
June 2005LightningJohnston1 hurt, $25,000no account filed
June 1998Thunderstorm WindJohnston$10,000,000no account filed
June 2008FloodJohnston$6,000,000no account filed
June 2008FloodJohnston$2,000,000no account filed
July 2010FloodJohnston$500,000no account filed
April 1994HailJohnston$500,000no account filed
June 2010FloodJohnston$250,000no account filed
June 1998LightningJohnston$150,000no account filed
July 2009HailJohnston$100,000The hail measured 2.25 inches by 3 inches.
July 2010FloodJohnston$75,000no account filed
August 2002Thunderstorm WindJohnston$75,000no account filed
May 2024Tornado (EF0)Johnston$50,000The path of this tornado started within Terra Parkin Johnston and moved northeast into a housing area before crossing over the Village Square Shopping Center. Most of the damage was done to trees with some minor damage to houses, mainly to shingles. The path continued northeast through Johnston with more tree damage before crossing the Des Moines River north of NW 66th Avenue. The tornado dissipated shortly thereafter near NW Fisher Lane.
June 2014Thunderstorm WindJohnston$50,000Estimaged 65 MPH winds broke 6 inch diameter branches.
July 2009HailJohnston$50,000Windows were broken out due to large hail at an apartment complex.
July 2009HailJohnston$50,000no account filed
April 2002HailJohnston$50,000no account filed
April 1994HailJohnston$50,000no account filed
April 1994HailJohnston$50,000no account filed
June 1998Thunderstorm WindJohnston$25,000no account filed
July 2009HailJohnston$10,000no account filed
June 2005HailJohnston$10,000no account filed
June 2005HailJohnston$10,000no account filed
August 2002Thunderstorm WindJohnston$10,000no account filed
June 1999LightningJohnston$10,000no account filed
July 1999LightningJohnston$10,000no account filed
May 1998HailJohnston$6,000no account filed
April 2012Thunderstorm WindJohnston$5,000Small branches broken off with minor street flooding.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindJohnston$5,000One foot diameter tree branch was blocking the road.
March 2007HailJohnston$5,000Reported by Johnston City Official.
March 2007HailJohnston$5,000no account filed
August 2007LightningJohnston$5,000no account filed
June 2005HailJohnston$5,000no account filed
April 2004HailJohnston$5,000no account filed
April 2004HailJohnston$5,000no account filed
July 2004LightningJohnston$5,000no account filed
April 2001HailJohnston$5,000no account filed
September 2001Thunderstorm WindJohnston$5,000no account filed
July 1998Thunderstorm WindJohnston$5,000no account filed
July 1995Thunderstorm WindJohnston$5,000no account filed
June 2003LightningJohnston$4,000no account filed
August 2009Thunderstorm WindJohnston$3,000Some tree branch damage.
June 2005HailJohnston$3,000no account filed
May 2011LightningJohnston$2,000no account filed
May 2004HailJohnston$2,000no account filed
May 2004HailJohnston$2,000no account filed
April 2001Thunderstorm WindJohnston$2,000no account filed
June 1999Thunderstorm WindJohnston$1,000no account filed
May 1999Thunderstorm WindJohnston$1,000no account filed
May 1998HailJohnston$500no account filed
May 1998HailJohnston$500no account filed
May 2024Thunderstorm WindJohnston-Public mping report of trees uprooted or snapped, roof damage.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindJohnston-Trained spotter reported a pine tree down, estimated 6 to 8 inches diameter, along with other tree damage.
June 2024Heavy RainJohnston-Report from social media of 4 inches of rainfall that occurred on June 4th.
June 2021HailJohnston-Report via mping of ping pong ball sized hail.
July 2020Heavy RainJohnston-Amateur radio report of 2.20 inches of rain in an hour.
July 2018Heavy RainJohnston-Public reported storm total heavy rainfall of 8.28 inches in East Johnston. Due to database entry limitation, beginning time coded as midnight CST. Actual estimated start time of 530pm CDT on June 30th.
June 2018Heavy RainJohnston-Amateur radio operator reported heavy rainfall of 7.1 inches in Johnston as of 10:43 pm.
June 2018Heavy RainJohnston-Public reported heavy rainfall of 5.6 inches so far.
July 2016Heavy RainJohnston-Mesonet station recorded heavy rainfall of 3.19 inches.

Every storm recorded in Polk 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
Camp Dodge1.9 miles17
Lovington2.0 miles17
Urbandale3.3 miles17
Saylorville3.6 miles17
Herrold3.9 miles17
Rider (historical)4.3 miles11
Crestwood4.7 miles16
Clive5.0 miles16

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 JohnstonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1911175The 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 457978. 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.